I was thinking of a senario where Teenage Engineering offered a service where you could send in your OP1 (probably very expensive, still fine with me…) to them and get a hardware update. For example updating the memory couldn’t be to hard these days? Just imagine having 4 tapes with 30 min (or eaven 60 min of tape length…), that would definitely make the unit more useful in i live performance situation were the OP1 could be the replacement for the cd-players/computer.
So, my question is. Would it be physically possible to for example replace the memory on the OP1 without affecting software and other functions too much? Of course some changes in the software are vital, but you get the point.
I suppose that adding memories in same system add also latencies. Balance are harsh but not impossible if it was planned ahead with some really high speed mem (and so that we had paid more for some “useless” technologies previously)
Physically it would require that the chip swap would be the same exact size with the same pinout, which may be possible for a larger memory to be the same size due to improvements in technology since the OP-1 first came out. I doubt that they would want to do this, though, due mostly to the complications of such a process and the process of developing firmware moving forward. Maybe they could have one combined file that works for both “versions” but if it isn’t possible, then you would have to add a level of complexity to prevent people from putting OP-1+ firmware on OP-1 standard hardware. I think this is a case of where it seems like it shouldn’t be difficult to do to a consumer, since they are used to situations where it is easy to upgrade a laptops battery, memory, or hard drive. But if they designed the OP-1 without any intention of upgradeability, then it might be much more trouble than it is worth. Additionally, TE would have to justify the cost of engineering R&D, processing, software development, and the hourly payment of the person/people whose job it is to do the swap (which may fluctuate based on whether 1 comes in per month or 10 in a week). Sorry to deflate any bubbles (hope I didn’t burst any), but like @Anticrew said, it may be more worth it to develop another device than upgrade an old one that has worked well for so many years.