Even if the chip never went obsolete, the scar tissue build up around implanted brain devices interferes with signal over time and they need to be replaced.

Also, each installation/replacement has a few percentage point chance of leading to a life threatening infection.

Unless both those issues are solved, irrespective of obsolescence this is only the sort of thing that makes sense for patients who feel that their life is effectively over without it and have low risk thresholds for treatment options.

Ever seen Johnny Mnemonic? He had a whole 80gb storage in his brain and upgraded it to 160gb. Future proof. He'd almost be able to install a modern AAA title!

The story of "Second Sight" and the folks that depended on them is pretty sad. I hope there's some kind of backup plan in case the company goes under, gets acquired, or decides to abandon existing technology. Like placing the key tech in a trust of sorts.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/bionic-eye-obsolete

This tech is extremely experimental and nowhere near ready to market as a consumer device that a regular person can purchase, so a lot of those questions don't really have answers.

Part of the study is to see how long it lasts. It's replaceable in theory but there's things like are there complications with redoing it (e.g scar tissue) to be explored.

As a human trial, he may never get an upgrade, and it might fail in a few months unexpectedly.

It's part of the risk of being in a trial vs waiting until it's a finished product.

"Sorry, your brain is out of warranty."

Many have mentioned that so you didn't look very far then. It's like the first thing people wonder. They have no answer of course, this is research and not a product

I suppose the counter argument is people don't ask that kind of question when they get a pacemaker. At some point you have to get an implant if you need an implant you can't go oh well our weight six months because then version 2.0 is out