Acme Made 13” Clutch for MacBook Pro or MacBook Air Review

I recently reviewed the Acme Made Lombard Sleeve for 13” MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops.   The Lombard was a pretty, feminine bag designed for carrying your 13” MacBook Pro and not much else.  If you prefer a more unisex look or you’d like a bag with a bit more storage, the Acme Made Clutch is perhaps more to your taste.  Acme Made sent me a Clutch for review.  How does it perform?

Some of the photos in this review are clickable for a larger view.

The 13” Clutch is a messenger-style bag.  The exterior is made of a coated twill fabric that looks a little like leather from a distance, but the obvious twill structure of the fabric gives it away on closer inspection.  The edges of the bag are bound with black polyurethane faux leather.  The only branding on the exterior is a small, square gray badge on the bottom center of the front flap.

The bag I received measured 14.75” X 10” X 2.0” empty.  Documentation says the bag weighs 1.3 pounds.

The front flap completely covers the front of the bag.  It closes with two long strips of Velcro, which is strong enough to keep the bag closed but isn’t quite so loud as some Velcro.

The back of the bag has no pouches or pockets.  There are two bronze-colored oval rings attached to the back of the bag with large black leather-look tabs.  The included shoulder strap attaches to these tabs.

You’ll notice some wrinkles or puckers along the edge seams on both the front flap and the back of the bag.  These seem to be a result of the flexible fabric bending in a few places.  However, the bunching seen on the right side of the back of the bag in the picture above apparently is caused by the sewing.

The shoulder strap is made of a black, belting-type material.  It is about 1.4” wide.  It has an adjustment buckle and large clips to attach it to the bag; all hardware is made of a bronze-colored metal.  The strap adjusts from 28.75” to 51.5” long, including the clips.  The strap is a bit stiff, and there is no strap pad for cushioning.  Because the Clutch is designed to hold a lighter load, the strap isn’t uncomfortable.

The interior is made of a quilted nylon fabric.  A sewn-in, stiffened panel creates a laptop compartment.  There is some thin, dense padding on the laptop side of the panel, and the quilted interior fabric is on the other side of the compartment.  My 13” MacBook Pro fits perfectly inside, except for the approximately 0.5” that sticks out of the open top of the compartment.  Acme Made says the laptop compartment is also perfect for carrying the MacBook and the 13” MacBook Air.

The rest of the main section is wide enough to hold a cardboard mailer for letter-sized paper.  It has gusseted sides, so it can expand enough to hold a notebook or a thin book.  The interior of the bag is all black, so it may be hard to find small items in the bottom of this section.

The front of the bag is equipped with small storage pockets.  There’s a zipper pouch big enough to hold some cables or other small items.  I couldn’t quite fit the power supply for the MacBook Pro in there, so I had to put it in the main storage section of the bag.  There are 3 vertical sleeves sized to fit business cards.  Next are two elastic pen loops that can take larger pens.  Finally is an open pocket to hold a phone or MP3 player.  Because the flap is held over this organizer panel by two pieces of Velcro, you can reach your hand in the side and grab the phone without having to open the bag.  Some will see this as a positive, but I don’t.  I once lost a phone out of an open pocket on a bag, and I don’t carry expensive things in open pockets now.  Because the flap is so easily accessible, I also wouldn’t carry credit cards or my driver’s license in those business card slots, either.

The Clutch from Acme Made is perfectly sized to carry the 13” MacBook Pro, a few papers or notebook, and a phone and a couple of cables.  Its unisex styling will appeal to a wider audience than the previous Acme Made bag I tried.  My only complaint is I wish the pockets on the organizer panel were more secure.  If that whole area were covered with a zipper flap, I’d be much happier.

The Acme Made Clutch is available only in Apple stores and at Apple online for $99.95.