Quantum Cycle Upgrade

The Quantum Cycle Upgrade is a semi-regular event where the entire Transformer population (or at least those living on Cybertron) has their hardware upgraded more-or-less simultaneously. These changes are not often as drastic as a reformat.

The purpose of Quantum Cycle Upgrades is unknown, although they may be analogous to receiving an annual [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Influenza vaccine|{{#if:flu shot|flu shot|Influenza vaccine}}]] or any other [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Digital television transition|{{#if:centralized initiative to switch to a new technology|centralized initiative to switch to a new technology|Digital television transition}}]].

Fiction

Beast Machines cartoon

Nightscream mentioned that all Transformers were fitted with DNA scanners during a Quantum Cycle Upgrade that took place while Optimus Primal and his crew were fighting the Beast Wars. Nightscream went on to say that they "junked all the stasis pods" in the upgrade. Survivor

Notes

• The "quantum" in the Quantum Cycle Upgrade is not a reference to [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}quantum mechanics|{{#if:||quantum mechanics}}]], but rather a "quantum leap", which is switching from one distinct state to another with no transition period in between.