The Flexbar resurrects the MacBook Professional’s Contact Bar as a standalone machine

Apple might have mentioned goodbye to the MacBook Professional’s Contact Bar final 12 months, however a crew of 4 engineers believes the idea deserves a second probability. They’ve created the Flexbar, which is basically a standalone model of the MBP’s skinny touchscreen show that can be utilized with a number of units and platforms by way of a USB connection.

The Flexbar’s creators have began a brand new firm, Eniac, which is making an attempt to deliver the accent to shoppers by way of a Kickstarter crowdfunding marketing campaign. The earliest backers can preorder one discounted to $119 from the total MSRP of $179, with supply anticipated as early as February 2025.

That is the corporate’s first product, nevertheless, and whereas they’ve demonstrated purposeful {hardware} in a number of movies, there’s nonetheless a component of threat when backing it. The corporate informed The Verge it was sourcing “parts by way of customary provide channels,” however didn’t verify the place the Flexbar’s uniquely-sized 10-inch 2K OLED display screen was coming from. Ideally it’s not repurposing Apple’s Contact Bar screens, which have a restricted provide inventory.

So what makes the Flexbar value utilizing when Apple did not make its Contact Bar a compelling function? As a standalone machine, the Flexbar can be utilized with desktops or laptops working Home windows or macOS, or cellular units like a pill. It can be positioned nevertheless you want, both sitting on the prime of a keyboard, or by itself magnetic stand.

Like Apple’s Contact Bar, the Flexbar offers dynamic entry to person interface parts like shortcuts, playback controls, and numerous instruments, which change routinely as you turn between apps. When used with picture enhancing apps like Adobe’s Photoshop, for instance, the Flexbar could be positioned vertically to duplicate the acquainted structure of the app’s most important toolbar, permitting an artist to modify between instruments or brush settings with out having to reposition their stylus.

The Flexbar’s creators are additionally striving to supply extra customizability than Apple did with its Contact Bar. You possibly can already obtain an early launch model of FlexbarDesigner, its Home windows app (a macOS model continues to be in improvement), permitting you to create your individual buttons, shortcuts, and customized interface parts by way of a streamlined drag-and-drop interface. There’s additionally a JavaScript-based SDK accessible for the Flexbar, permitting builders to create plugins for numerous apps that might be accessible by way of a market that’s anticipated to launch someday subsequent 12 months.