Netflix’s iBoy would face a heavy dose of smartphone upgrade cycle regret

Netflix has a new original film arriving January 27 called ‘iBoy,’ which follows a regular teen who gets superpowers when smartphone components are embedded in his noggin after he gets beat up. The powers seem to include being able to tune into and control wireless frequencies, among other things.

Using these powers, he pursues an agenda of revenge against the ne’er-do-wells who put him in his unusual state to begin with, who have also attacked and apparently kidnapped his best friend, played by Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams.

iBoy’s powers seem pretty cool, but I can’t help but think about how badly it would suck to have smartphone components embedded in your brain after a couple of update cycles. What about the imminent arrival of next-gen 5G wireless? Bluetooth 5.0? More powerful processors? Imagine if you had an OG first-generation iPhone stuck in your brain in today’s world – you probably wouldn’t be able to stream a YouTube video without a Wi-Fi connection.

OTA updates will only take you so far.