At a glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
- High-quality materials
- Great workmanship
- Elegant design
Cons
- Only superficial protection
- Low structure
Our Verdict
The Leather MacBook Sleeve from Harber London impresses with its simple design, high-quality workmanship and beautiful materials. However, the protective aspect is superficial at best and prevents your MacBook from being scratched by other objects in your bag. The sleeve is more suitable as a very fashionable accessory in nicely-furnished offices.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Best Prices Today: Harber London Classic Leather MacBook Sleeve
Harber London is a relatively young family business from London (as the name implies) and specializes in high-quality accessories made from equally high-quality materials: full-grain leather, wool felt, and, more recently, a plastic textile made from recycled plastic bottles.
Most of the laptop sleeves, such as the Leather MacBook Sleeve are completely plastic-free.
Eugen Wegmann
Even though it is made of high-quality leather and wool felt, the Leather MacBook Sleeve is quite simple overall. The back half consists of a thin piece of leather, the front of a thicker piece of felt, onto which another piece of thin leather is sewn, which acts as two small pockets. And that’s it.
The sleeve comes in four color options: light grey (Classic) or dark grey felt (Black Edition) combined with black or brown leather. It is also available in different sizes for all possible MacBooks since the MacBook Air from 2010.
Eugen Wegmann
The sleeve has practically no structure of its own–you can easily roll it up if you want without breaking it. If you have the correct size, the sleeve fits very snugly around the laptop.
Eugen Wegmann
If you choose the wrong size (for example, the 16-inch version for a MacBook Air) then the sleeve will not only be baggy, but your MacBook may simply fall out, similar to buying trousers that are two sizes too big. Conversely, you should of course not choose the MacBook Air version for your 16-inch MacBook Pro. It simply won’t fit.
The Leather MacBook Sleeve does not have a fastener either. As one long side is permanently open, there is of course practically no (splash) water protection.
The two small pockets on the front are practical for storing cables, notes, and other small items, and even one of the smaller MacBook power adapters fits in quite well. Then it gets pretty cramped. The large 96-watt power supply unit from Apple, which is included with the more powerful MacBook Pro, just about fits, but the plug either hangs out of the bag or presses against the inside of the leather –not ideal in either case. Smaller, but thicker power supply units stretch the pocket quite a bit and wear out the leather in the long run. The two pockets cannot be closed either.
Should you buy the Harber London Leather MacBook Sleeve?
The Harber London Leather MacBook Sleeve is a high-quality, beautifully finished accessory that offers some protection for your MacBook from scratches and dents. You can carry your MacBook in style from meeting room to meeting room. But if you’re traveling you need something more robust and you’re probably better off with a different sleeve or bag.
Best Prices Today: Harber London Classic Leather MacBook Sleeve
This article originally appeared on our sister publication Macwelt and was translated and localized from German.
Author: Eugen Wegmann, Staff Writer, Macwelt
Eugen Wegmann has been writing for German sister site Macwelt since 2022 (previously for TechRadar). He wasn't always an Apple fan and looks at its products and antics with a healthy dose of skepticism, but also curiosity and optimism. In his private life, he still relies on Windows (because Apple is taking its time expanding the gaming platform). He has also been a fan of wireless in-ear headphones from the very beginning, and has tested dozens of models over the years.