It sounds like the Nintendo Switch dock will not support output of audio over an optical audio port. This news is coming to us fro final technical analyses and breakdowns of the Switch hardware. It appears as though this port will be missing from the final Switch hardware.
Now, there might be some who are bummed about an optical audio port’s exclusion, but those same people should probably remember tat this is at this point a legacy port, that belongs to the 1990s. Not only that, but the just launched PlayStation 4 Pro also did not have an optical out port- it’s simply too old a port to continue including in your console, driving up costs at the same time, too.
Still, on the other hand, standard PS4 models, as well as the Xbox One S, do have the port, so I suppose that is another area where the Switch is behind its immediate competition. The Nintendo Switch is going to launch worldwide on March 3.