REVIEW – I have had my MacBook Pro 16 for a little over a year. It stays on my desktop at home 95% of the time. That other 5% gets packed into a rolling camera bag and used at photo shoots. It is also going with me on my first extended vacation with my husband to Alaska. So when the opportunity to review a leather slip-sleeve cover for the MacBook came up, I eagerly volunteered. I planned never to let the bag holding my laptop leave my hands, but as you read the review, you will see that things changed over the course of our vacation. Read on to see how well the sleeve worked protecting my laptop.
What is it?
The Manuel Dreesmann slip-sleeve for the MacBook Pro is a leather sleeve you can slip your MacBook into for protection when carrying it around outside of your home. It comes in several color choices. I was sent the grass green color.
What’s included?
- Leather slip-sleeve in green
- Canvas shipping bag
- Information card
Tech specs
Click to expand
- 36.7 × 28.5 × 2 cm | 14.5 x 11.2 x 0.8 inch
- 0.4 Kg / 0.9 lbs
- Comes in the following colors: brown, natural, red, black, olive green, marine blue, dark brown, grass green (what I got), orange, royal blue
Design and features
The Manuel Dreesmann slip sleeve for the Macbook Pro is just that. It is a leather sleeve that you slip the MacBook into. It does not have any enclosing flap. Manuel Dreesman does sell a sleeve that closes with a flap like an envelope. I personally chose the slip sleeve because, knowing that it was made of real leather, I knew it would have some weight to it. My camera bag is already very heavy with a large 100-300 2.8 lens, two camera bodies, and other lenses and accessories. Since the laptop was already in a semi-padded area, I figured a slip-sleeve would be all that I needed.
The grass green color is a very vibrant green. I personally love the color. I love that ‘new leather’ smell and you definitely get that with this slip-sleeve. It has hand-sewn seams down two sides. It is made of real 2mm thick calf leather that is tanned with a vegetable process. Using vegetables makes the tanning process take one to two months instead of the faster chrome tanning process. All of the edges are beveled and burnished.
The logo for Manuel Dreesmann (MADRE) is embossed on the front of the sleeve.
Here is a closeup of the seam and bottom right-hand corner. The corners are left open, but the laptop does not even come close to poking out of them. The second picture shows the inside of the sleeve where you can see the small gaps of light showing through the corners. The thread perfectly matches the color of the leather.
Placing my MacBook on top of the sleeve, I initially thought it might be too small for the sleeve.
It slid in easily and fit perfectly.
Here is a picture from the edge of the sleep with the laptop inside. Something to note is that due to the sleeve’s construction, the MacBook will take up a bit more space than before. The edges where the seams are sticking out a bit.
Here is a picture from the top looking down on the sleeve with the laptop inside. You can see that it fits perfectly inside the sleeve with a few millimeters of leather beyond it.
Performance
I was initially worried that the laptop would not fit in the backpack camera bag I had gotten to take on vacation with the sleeve on. It says it was made to handle up to a 16-inch laptop, and the sleeve would definitely make it a bit larger. Fortunately, I had no issues, and since the leather was flexible, it slid right into the backpack’s pocket with no issues.
We were taking a trip to Alaska, and I was not going to pass up the opportunity to get some great pictures. That meant I would have to bring my big pro body DSLR, a 100-300 2.8 lens, a 17-24 lens, a 1.4 extender, a battery charger, a MacBook Pro, a card reader, and several other filters and accessories. There was no way I was going to let this bag get checked. I also knew I would take it with me on several smaller excursion boats to see wildlife and glaciers. I have a rolling camera suitcase, but I knew it needed to go into a larger camera backpack to carry it on to those excursions. I am sure that when that backpack was fully loaded, it was well over 30lbs!
We ended up checking that backpack at the bellstand at two different hotels because there was no way I was lugging that thing through the city while we waited on our hotel room. I also had to have it stowed under a tour bus several times because the bag was too large for its overhead compartment. That bag with the laptop in the sleeve traveled from San Antonio to Dallas to Vancouver. Then, a seven-day cruise where it was carted around on three different excursions, with two of them being on some pretty bumpy boat rides. It then went off and on a tour bus several times, a train, and several hotel rooms. It was out of my site and control for at least 24 hours or more due to luggage constraints.
I am happy to report that the camera bag and the Manuel Dreesmann slip-sleeve worked great and protected both my camera equipment and the laptop. During our travels, I liked how the sleeve could be used as a base to place the laptop when I needed to use it to upload pictures. It will be definitely coming with me on any future photo shoots.
What I like about the Manuel Dreesmann MacBook Pro Slip Sleeve
- excellent craftsmanship
- lots of color choices
- fits my MacBook Pro perfectly
What needs to be improved?
- nothin
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed using the Manuel Dreesman MacBook Pro slip sleeve. It did make the laptop a bit wider, but I felt it gave good bump protection and looks awesome while doing it. I highly recommend this sleeve. If you are looking to carry the laptop outside of a bag, you might want to check out their full sleeves that have a cover that closes over the laptop.
Price: $139
Where to buy: Manuel Dreesmann
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Manuel Dreesmann. Manuel Dreesmann did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
