Which case?

[0989383]

Got a brand new MBP here, and it's amazing. The Space Grey is downright sexy. I said it.

Two days of using it in the real world and wrapping it up in a pyjama fleece top in my backpack to keep it safe.. I need a proper solution...

My last MacBook Pro was almost 3 years old and from the first week I had a satin black Speck case on it. Every so often I kept it clean, but thinking back probably every few months.

Though when I took it off my Mac had ruined finished all over.. black specks out of the aluminium finish. Must have been trapped dirt under pressure and heat over the years. Still, the bulkiness and ugliness of that case was in aid of preserving it, it did not preserve it.. So I'm hesitant to buy another hard shell case. As well as the fact Speck are appalling at customer service....they're ignoring my warranty requests for my iPhone case.. best case too yet I'll never spend another penny with them due to that. ANYWAY, back to the point...

Is it a good enough plan to keep it in a sleeve for transport and use it with it being naked on the table top?

What alternatives are there?

 

[LxHunter]

I use:

This skin in matte
http://www.bestskinsever.com/

And this sleeve:
https://www.acmemade.com/collections/neoprene

Never used a hard case. Every one I have seen in use ends up scuffing the MacBook because unavoidable that a bit of grit gets in.

 

[ZapNZs]

I like to use the system without a case or skin given it is more attractive and IMO more portable (additionally, I've started wondering if the added weight/modified dimensions of the bulkier hard shell cases causes greater wear on the hinges over time.) Further, I don't think hard shell cases add very much protection beyond the minor cosmetic damage that doesn't really interfere with productivity. If one is careful, they can avoid most of the cosmetic damage that skins/shell cases can protect against IMO, as the finish is reasonably robust (although the SG color shows cosmetic blemishes more than the silver, simply because the SG ano is a darker color than the aluminum's bare finish.) Some cosmetic damage is unavoidable though, especially with highly mobile computers.

To protect the MBP from damage greater than basic cosmetic blemishing, I've become a big fan of the Thule Gauntlet (also the Booq Viper and In Case rigid sleeve as both of these are also rigid cases, but neither have been updated for the retina models and so they are overly bulky for the current gen), given it is a rigid case, which is then placed in a padded laptop bag. I've used the Gauntlet + a Timbuk2 Messenger Laptop bag for the nTB and a 2014 MBPr (and now a Booq Viper + Messenger Laptop bag for my 2017 rMB), and it's given the computer the ability to survive considerable amounts of shock, adding a nice interval of protection to damage that would crack a screen or cause corner damage if the system was stored only in an ultra-thin sleeve (IMO these ultra thin sleeves also provide minimal protection against the damage that is the worst kind). Short of a Pelican case, this IMO gives the system the best combination of water resistance, shock resistance, and cosmetic damage resistance in a reasonably practical package that isn't an overburden to carry on a daily basis.

Do note that the new MBPs are more sensitive to being compressed than previous iterations - the considerable compressive force that being placed in a backpack or bag loaded to the brim with books is enough to crack the screen. The Gauntlet's rigid design that resists compression helps avoid this, but should not be used as a substitute for an improperly loaded bag IMHO. Quite a few of the cracked screens that customers believed had cracked on their own were due to them placing too much compressive force on the MBP (often with a tiny particle trapped between the screen and inner palmrest), with the erroneous belief that this new generation had the same robustness of the Uni, which is nearly twice as thick and presumably uses a much thicker piece of glass.

YMMV.