The Touch Bar era of MacBook Pros is not something many of us want to return to.
And yet, as reported by The Verge, a new project has appeared on Kickstarter that hopes to bring back the Apple Touch Bar — but as a standalone device. The 10-inch 2K OLED touchscreen is designed to sit above the keyboard on your laptop, on your desk above your keyboard, or even beside your tablet to give you quick access to your most-used buttons.
The device is being made by a new startup called Eniac that believes the now discontinued Touch Bar wasn’t a bad concept in itself and that Apple just didn’t do enough with it. According to the company, its version — called the Flexbar — will focus on offering major customizability so you can create macros for everything from your favorite Procreate brushes to a cooldown bar for Final Fantasy XIV.
To create these ultra-personal setups, the company has made software, FlexbarDesigner, to help you get the exact functionalities, colors, and layouts you want.
The bar has haptic feedback and a magnetic stand to help it stay in place wherever you put it. One major drawback of the product, however, is that it appears to require a wired connection to whatever device you use it with. All the videos and images the company has released show the Flexbar plugged in with its USB-C adapter, and there is no mention of Bluetooth connectivity.
This could easily be a deal breaker for many since we’re all used to our Bluetooth mice and keyboards, and this product feels like it should work the same way.
Another point to keep in mind is that this is the company’s first-ever Kickstarter project and first-ever product — so there’s no guarantee that it will successfully ship. Eniac told The Verge it was using “standard supply channels” to get its OLED screen, but considering how unique the size of the display is, it doesn’t seem like something that would be easy to find.
If you’re interested in the project, however, you can check out the Kickstarter page here and even download the FlexbarDesigner software to see how it works.
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