With the 2016 MacBook Professional fashions, Apple launched the Contact Bar, a small multi-touch show obtainable above the keyboard. The Contact Bar changed the perform row of keys and added dynamic buttons that modified for every app, but it surely was a polarizing characteristic that many Mac customers disliked.
Apple began phasing out the Contact Bar with the launch of the 2021 MacBook Professional fashions, and the final Mac with a Contact Bar was discontinued in 2023. Should you’re one of many MacBook Professional customers who misses the Contact Bar, you may need to check out the Flexbar, which is designed to be a Contact Bar substitute.
The Flexbar is a standalone touch-based {hardware} machine that attaches to a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or PC over USB-C. It has a customizable, adaptive interface that is modeled after the Contact Bar, and by way of performance, it is just like multi-button PC and Mac add-ons just like the Stream Deck.
Flexbar includes a 10-inch 2K OLED show and it comes outfitted with preloaded shortcut mixtures and controls tailor-made for fashionable apps. It helps third-party APIs and might allegedly provide “superior, native-like controls” for YouTube, Microsoft apps, Adobe apps, AutoCAD, and extra. Flexbar’s creators say {that a} plugin system and market are in growth and slated to launch within the second quarter of 2025.
Just like the Contact Bar, the Flexbar is designed to robotically swap controls primarily based in your present process window, however customers can create their most well-liked layouts utilizing a “Workspace” recording perform. Whereas the Contact Bar was restricted to extra fundamental controls, the Flexbar helps multi-step macros and sequences for repetitive duties.
The Flexbar is a Kickstarter challenge from a Hong Kong-based firm known as ENIAC, so initially, MacRumors readers ought to know that ENIAC has not beforehand created a {hardware} product. Taking {hardware} from prototyping to mass manufacturing is a tough process that may result in delays and even insurmountable points, plus there are additionally software program integration necessities, so we advocate ready till the product launches to make a purchase order.
It’s $120 to again the Flexbar now (delivery not included), and the product has been funded. The Kickstarter web page lists an estimated supply date of February 2025.
