One thing is for sure – my 13” white MacBook is scratched to death on the bottom. This is due partly to general use, but also to the fact it typically gets carried in a messenger bag designed to hold a laptop and a whole bunch of other stuff. It is loose fitting, sloshes around in there and gets dinged up something nasty. As if it’s not bad enough that hours of continued use leave hand prints on the white MacBook’s inside, the outside is certainly showing signs of wear and tear.
Fortunately for me, I received a new laptop sleeve from Colcasac called the Applesac, designed specifically for my 13” MacBook. This sleeve is very model specific, so when I say 13” MacBook I mean 13” MacBook. You’ll be hard pressed to get anything else in this thing with such a precise fit. But for those who use said laptop as their machine of choice, read on for info about a pretty slick product.
There is nothing fancy about the packaging. It arrived in a simple plastic bag, which is perfectly fine. The item has a nice tag pinned to it that can be read through the packaging as an identifier. The logo is on one side, and the flipside contains brief information about the product. From what I can tell looking at the product website, this Applesac’s particular model is “The Romana.”
The sleeve is made of a hemp, cotton and jute combination on the outside, and a nice synthetic sherpa fleece on the inside. The hemp exterior is a very tough and durable blend that promotes an extended longevity over cotton or nylon. This is good as it implies your bag will stand the test of time and offer adequate protection for your machine. The fleece inside is very soft and will certainly allow the laptop to enter and exit without any fear of scratching. These materials do feel considerably thicker than your standard cotton sleeve, and are still constructed out of natural materials for those who strive to own more green-friendly products.
A simple velcro seal holds the unit shut. The sleeve only has one pocket which is intended to be just the right size for your laptop’s power cord or some CD/DVD/USB media. Not both.
Specifications:
The velcro closure seems plenty strong enough to hold the flap down during travel. At first, velcro concerned me, as I thought perhaps a button or two would be a more trustworthy latch and would still fit the feel of a natural product. To test the velcro, I grabbed the bottom of the sac by the fabric only and shook up and down to see whether or not the laptop would break through and fall out. It didn’t even begin to crack the seal.
The front pocket doesn’t offer a heck of a lot of room once you have a laptop inside, as the hemp isn’t the most flexible material in the world. But, this exactly fitting mentality is the nature of the product.
The pictures below show the extent of how far you can stretch the pocket away from the bag once the laptop is inserted. The pocket is definitely suitable for CDs, DVDs, USB drives, pencils and pens, or anything else small and portable, and while tight, it does provide just enough room for your laptop’s power cord. I rolled the thing up nicely and put it down in the pouch. As you can see, it does stick out a bit, and this seemed to be the case no matter how I coiled the cord. That may be a bother for some.
Having read about this product online before receiving it, I came across a lot of people complaining about the material shedding on their laptop. The exterior canvas of the bag does have little hairs that are sticking off all over, but you can’t see them too well unless you hold the sac up to the light. It’s not as if they’re just flying off every time you touch the thing. The fleece inside can be pulled out with fairly little effort, so there is some validity to the concerns about the interior fleece shedding and getting fibers in the ports of the machine. However, I can’t see how anyone who treats the sleeve with care and responsibility would have too much of a problem with pulling out the fibers. It’s a well-made item that looks like it will indeed hold together for a very long time. Very little debris has come from mine at all.
Another bonus to the canvas bag, which Colcasac mentions on their website, is the sleeve acts as a theft deterrent. Most people don’t look at a canvas bag and assume there is a computer inside.
Travelers will appreciate the mobility of this product, though some may be glum over the fact there is no handle or strap. It’s simply a cover and you have to treat it as such, which means carrying it book-style or placing it within a larger carry bag. Thus is the nature of a sleeve, though. No strap or handle should be present. As I mentioned before, I carry my laptop in a loose Kenneth Cole messenger bag, and the AppleSac will be the perfect solution for added protection in that bag while not taking up much additional space.
AppleSacs do come in a variety of other colors and designs, and sizes are available for just about all Mac laptop models.
Conclusion:
A tough but gentle product, the Applesac should be a great choice for basic protection of your laptop, defending against scratches, dings, scuffs and dents. It won’t do a heck of a lot if you drop the thing from six feet high onto a sidewalk, but I’m fairly sure that any consumer who looks at the product would expect that going in. The fact that it lacks a handle or strap tells you that it must be carried carefully or will be housed within a larger bag.
It is durable, attractive in a very conservative, rustic, eco-friendly way, and comes with a reasonable price tag for keeping your computer safe. There are no bells and whistles; just a perfect fit for your laptop and a pocket to carry your necessities. Anyone who expects more doesn’t understand the purpose of a laptop sleeve. For only around $30, the Applesac knows what it is for and exceeds at being a nice product.
Pros:
+Simplistic design
+Solid construction from eco-friendly materials
+Very nice, snug, comfortable fit
Cons:
-Pocket could be a tiny bit bigger
Cons2
-Slight shedding has me worrying whether or not other sleeves shed more
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