Beware: Snap on Hard Cases

[covertash]

Just as a public service announcement, pay attention to the fitment of your snap-on hard cases. I bought a Kuzy from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Kuzy-13-Inch-...5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1383432970&sr=1-5

It added a little bit of bulk to the laptop, but the fitment seemed to be OK. To my eyes, it looked like all was well, but I noticed that my battery life was terrible afterwards: going from around 11 hours at full charge to about 6-7 hours at the same levels. I also noticed the fan was noticeably louder as well, whereas normally I would not really hear it at all.

After some troubleshooting time, I decided to take off the bottom side of the Kuzy case, and sure enough, within a few minutes the fan noise started to die down. I checked my estimated battery life a few minutes after that and that also started to climb back up to normal estimates as well.

Thankfully, I am an Amazon Prime member, so I have initiated a refund for this Kuzy case with no hassle at all. Seeing as how I did not like the additional bulk from this type of case, though, I will go for a skin instead. I have had great success with the bestskinsever on my iPhone 4 and 5, so I will go with them again for my rMBP:

http://www.bestskinsever.com/other/laptops/macbook-pro-with-13-inch-retina-display-skin

Just figured I would pass this along to save someone the baffling troubleshooting time later on if they run into the similar issues.

 

[Sinnin]

Your public service announcement caught my eye since I installed both a full-body Bestskinsever and a Moshi iGlaze hardshell case for my Haswell 15". After charging the battery to 100% with only iTunes (streaming 1080p vids to Apple TV) and Safari open, my battery stated "17:17 remaining". With a light load like this running, I waited a few minutes and checked it again. "17:06 remaining".

Perhaps the kuzy doesn't allow the rMBP to ventilate well but I've had no heat issues or fans spinning up with the Moshi and Bestskinsever combination... yet.

P.S. - Get the matte finish for the skin. You have to really look to notice that it's on the machine. It blends really well.

 

[covertash]

Your public service announcement caught my eye since I installed both a full-body Bestskinsever and a Moshi iGlaze hardshell case for my Haswell 15". After charging the battery to 100% with only iTunes (streaming 1080p vids to Apple TV) and Safari open, my battery stated "17:17 remaining". With a light load like this running, I waited a few minutes and checked it again. "17:06 remaining".

Perhaps the kuzy doesn't allow the rMBP to ventilate well but I've had no heat issues or fans spinning up with the Moshi and Bestskinsever combination... yet.

P.S. - Get the matte finish for the skin. You have to really look to notice that it's on the machine. It blends really well.

In my experience, Moshi makes very high quality products. I have one of their cases for my iPad Mini and it is perfect! I will keep an eye on that Moshi iGlaze for the 13" and mull it over.

It seems like we are on the same wavelength because I just ordered the matte version of the skin myself. Looking forward to putting this on soon.

It's interesting that you have both installed together. There were no issues with fitment? The skin didn't add a thick enough layer to be a problem with your Moshi case? I know once the skins were on my iPhones, I was no longer able to install a case on either (but then again these are two separate product lines all together).

 

[Luftwaffles]

That's interesting. I have a Kuzy shell on my 15" Haswell and have had no issues with cooling, fan noise, or battery life.

 

[sabbyp]

Your public service announcement caught my eye since I installed both a full-body Bestskinsever and a Moshi iGlaze hardshell case for my Haswell 15". After charging the battery to 100% with only iTunes (streaming 1080p vids to Apple TV) and Safari open, my battery stated "17:17 remaining". With a light load like this running, I waited a few minutes and checked it again. "17:06 remaining".

Perhaps the kuzy doesn't allow the rMBP to ventilate well but I've had no heat issues or fans spinning up with the Moshi and Bestskinsever combination... yet.

P.S. - Get the matte finish for the skin. You have to really look to notice that it's on the machine. It blends really well.

17 hours lol, you're either trolling or there was something wrong with the battery readout.

that's literally not possible, especially not on a 15" model

 

[AGuyInATown]

I bought the $15 black plastic iPearl and haven't had issues thus far. It doesn't protect on the sides all the way to the ports like Speck and Kuzy, so the air intake and exhaust areas are clearly open. It also has a nice kickstand feature for the back 2 feet that makes typing much more comfortable. We'll see how it holds up. Sorry to hear about yours. I wouldn't have given it a second thought had someone not mentioned it in a video review.

 

[covertash]

That's interesting. I have a Kuzy shell on my 15" Haswell and have had no issues with cooling, fan noise, or battery life.

Quite possibly could have just been a slight fitment issue on mine. To my eyes it looked like everything lined up OK, and I could see into the air vents, but the angle may have been bad.

I bought the $15 black plastic iPearl and haven't had issues thus far. It doesn't protect on the sides all the way to the ports like Speck and Kuzy, so the air intake and exhaust areas are clearly open. It also has a nice kickstand feature for the back 2 feet that makes typing much more comfortable. We'll see how it holds up. Sorry to hear about yours. I wouldn't have given it a second thought had someone not mentioned it in a video review.

The iPearl looks interesting with that kickstand, and is a little cheaper too. Hmmm...

 

[Sinnin]

17 hours lol, you're either trolling or there was something wrong with the battery readout.

that's literally not possible, especially not on a 15" model

Yeah, I know 17 hours is not possible, but that is just what it said. Even now, with the adapter freshly disconnected, it states "17:10 remaining". I just got this thing earlier this week and have not put it through its paces. Just been mainly running Handbrake and encoding vids. The charger is usually connected, but I have noticed that it does take a while for the battery percentage to fall below 90% once disconnected. I guess I'll eventually test this machine's endurance in the next few days.

As for any issues with fitment for the skin and Moshi hardshell case combo, I did not have any although I was expecting at least something. Pretty stoked about these purchases.

 

[edfoo]

Yeah, I know 17 hours is not possible, but that is just what it said.

The battery percentage is just MBP's guesstimation, I don't trust it. When I open the lid on my MBP after it has been put into sleep mode, the battery indicator says it still has over 200 hours left, I am guessing it means if my MBP is left in sleep mode, the battery can last over 200 hours before it is drained.

 

[covertash]

As for any issues with fitment for the skin and Moshi hardshell case combo, I did not have any although I was expecting at least something. Pretty stoked about these purchases.

That's great to hear! I'll see how I feel about the skin by itself after it has been installed. If it needs a bit more oomph, I'll know where to look.

 

[Mac.User]

Spec = cheap crap that breaks

I ONLY will use Incipio cases. They are a softer more flexible so that you can put it on and remove with out it breaking and has a better fit in my experience.

I haven't seen anyone have a problem with a case when the person was using a good quality case, and was using common sense and taking it off every 6 month the just to wipe out anything that got in it.

Every time I see an issue it's from some brand I have never heard of, of Spec.

 

[daghstdrummer]

I have this case and have no issues... I have a non retina 13 inch mbp.. my battery life has been a consistent 6-7 hours since i bought it in August 13.