This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: An interesting new gadget called the Flexbar takes Apple’s doomed Touch Bar idea and runs with it. Instead of being fixed in place like on the MacBook Pro, this customizable OLED strip connects to Macs and PCs via USB-C.
It looks pretty cool! But can it succeed where the Touch Bar failed?
Also on The CultCast:
- Almost as surprising as the Touch Bar making a comeback: A company figured out how to offer aftermarket SSDs for the Mac Studio, at much more affordable prices than Apple’s upgrades. (OK, that last part’s not surprising.)
- The first M5-powered iPad Pros reportedly will arrive in the second half of next year. And it sounds like that crazy hybrid iPad/HomePod might become a reality in 2025, too.
- And finally, Erfon tells us all about a sweet aftermarket CarPlay display in a new “Under Review” segment.
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.
The CultCast live stream archive: The Touch Bar lives!
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This week’s top Apple news
On the show this week: Your host Erfon Elijah (@erfon), Cult of Mac managing editor Lewis Wallace (@lewiswallace) and Cult of Mac writer D. Griffin Jones (@dgriffinjones).
Here are the headlines we’re talking about on this week’s show:
- Apple’s next iPad Pro upgrade to arrive in second half of 2025
- HomePod with a large display is still on the way
- Upgrading your Mac Studio storage becomes possible
- Apple’s Touch Bar resurrected as Flexbar, a standalone USB-C OLED strip
Under Review
Carpod Go T3: Erfon says the Carpod Go T3 is a convenient way to add a wireless CarPlay screen to your car. It comes with a responsive 8.9-inch, 700-nit display.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
