The cheapest MacBook
starts at $1000, and that's a lot of money.
And you definitely don't want to damage it,
cover it in scratches or, yeah... moving on.
A scratch and dent-free MacBook looks good,
but keeping a MacBook in good condition is also important,
as I covered in a previous video,
because the resale value of Macs is really high
depending, of course, on their condition.
Now is a protective shell for your MacBook essential?
In my opinion, actually, no.
I've personally used MacBooks for almost 10 years,
and I've never used a case.
Sure, I've had a few minor drops
and the bottom gets a bit scuffed, but they all survived.
However, if you're a bit clumsy
or you want your laptop in perfect condition
when it's time to sell,
a cheap Amazon case might just be the answer.
I came across the ProCase on Amazon one day,
which is a heavy-duty but still relatively slim case
that fits both the M1 MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro.
It also works on previous versions of the MacBook
but just make sure you check the description
of the Amazon page to double-check.
The feature that really drew my attention
was the fold kickstand on the bottom.
More on this later.
Now getting the case onto M1 MacBook Air was simple enough,
just line it up and clip the little plastic clips
on the edges over the chassis of the MacBook.
The clips seem flimsy at first,
and I was worried about breaking them,
but they've been designed
in such a way that they're really tiny,
so there's less chance of them snapping.
Let's jump into the studio and take a closer look
at this case as well as discuss some negatives
that I don't like.
Okay, so let's start with some positives
and some things that I really like about this case.
So the first one is you get really, really good coverage
and protection.
So this entire part here is plastic, so is the bottom.
There's really not much
that you can scratch or get past this cover.
On the edges and the corners,
you get this really thick sort of plastic on the sides;
on the other side as well on the corner.
If I flip it over, you can see both corners here,
this really, really thick plastic.
So if you drop it, this is going to be the first thing
that hits.
It isn't super, super thick here, but as you can see here,
you get a little bit of overhang on the corner.
So hopefully that's going to be enough
if you do ever drop it.
A lot of the times, what I see with MacBooks
is you get a lot of scratches on the bottom
aluminum case.
And that's obviously just from normal wear and tear,
and it's something you can't really avoid
unless you have some kind of protective cover like this,
or some kind of skin.
So as a good example, here's a 2017 MacBook Pro.
You can see there's quite a lot of scuffing
on the underside.
It's really not that bad.
A previous MacBook I had, I actually dropped it
on the ground, right on the corner here,
and there was a huge sort of dent in the corner.
It was just cosmetic, didn't actually do anything to the Mac
and I was still able to sell it,
but I got really, really lucky there.
So this particular case will protect
against things like that.
So flipping it over and opening up the lid,
you can see here on the trackpad, in the trackpad,
it's actually quite flash with the trackpad.
So you don't actually get any clips
or anything kind of sticking out.
And that's really great,
because when you're actually typing on the keyboard,
it's not actually digging into your wrists like that,
so this is very, very comfortable.
I can't actually feel anything.
You do have the little clips right here,
but they're so small and they're so sort of flash
with the case that you just can't feel it at all,
which is really, really comfortable.
So like I said before, this case is going to be really,
really good for protecting against the scratches.
Now, in terms of actual fall damage,
now if this thing falls to the ground
and the ground's like cement or metal or wood,
something really, really hard,
I'm not really convinced this is going to do a lot
to save it.
So as you can see on this corner, for example,
you've really only got a little bit of plastic
that's kind of separating the MacBook
from whatever's hitting the ground.
These corners are a little bit more well-protected,
but if you drop your MacBook on something really,
really solid, it's not really going to matter
that you have this case,
because the fall damage is going to be huge.
And you're probably actually going to bend
or have a massive dent in the actual MacBook.
Now in saying that, I would much rather have this case on
when dropping the Mac than not,
because at the very least,
it's going to give you a little bit of separation
and a little bit of cushioning
if you do hit something hard, or if the laptop, for example,
falls off your desk onto a really solid floor.
Now, the fold-out kickstand is actually something
that I really, really like for two reasons.
So number one, it actually lifts your laptop a little bit
off the desk or the table or whatever you're using it on.
And it provides sort of a tilt for your wrists.
So it's a lot comfortable to type like this
rather than having the Mac flat on the ground
'cause it kind of lets you angle your wrists up
and it's a much more natural position
for your hands to be in.
The other thing I like about it is it is just so easy
to flick them down.
You can see right there, they're down now.
Just one finger, it's in, and then you can just pull it
back out again, if you so wish.
Now, the website claims that this particular kickstand
is actually going to reduce heat,
because obviously you have this extra airflow
going underneath that.
I tend to disagree with that.
If it does have any kind of impact,
it's going to be very minimal
as I've already proven in this particular video here.
You can see in that particular video
I used a laptop cooling stand
and it really didn't make much difference at all.
Now you may be able to see here
that the actual case extends a little bit over the vent.
Now I don't think this is going to have any kind
of noticeable impact, obviously not on the MacBook Air,
the M1 MacBook Air 'cause it does not have a fan,
but on some of the Pro models, having this all the way back
might constrict air very, very slightly,
but I don't think that's going to be a major issue at all.
Another quick thing is that it sits completely flat.
So right now I have the kickstand open.
You can see there, there's no wobble.
And when I shut this, there's no wobble either.
So it's very, very well-made and solid.
And you have each of the four points connecting the Mac
to the surface are even, so there's no wobble at all.
You also get a large cutout on the sides
for any kind of ports or thick cables.
Some cases just have like a tiny little cut-out
and it just doesn't work very well at all,
especially if you have a more bulky kind of cable.
And last but not least in terms of the pros, the price.
So it's only 30 bucks.
If you do scratch it, or if you do drop your laptop
and you crack the case, you just buy a new one
for 30 bucks, and it's a lot better
than having to repair your MacBook or get a couple
of hundred dollars less when you go to sell it
in a couple of years time
because the whole thing is just completely scratched
and full of dents.
Now, moving on to the negatives.
These are all actually relatively minor.
I really did struggle finding negatives
for this particular case, which was surprising to me,
'cause it is pretty cheap.
The first one is this particular top cover here,
where it actually meets the lid,
doesn't really have the best sort of attachment point.
You can see there, I can actually lift it up a little bit.
So in practice, when you're actually lifting
up the MacBook lid, it can feel a little bit strange
'cause this kind of moves up
but I haven't really had any issues with it so far.
You do have these two clips on the side,
which are holding it in.
So I don't really think that's a huge issue,
and it isn't for me personally.
Now staying with the top case,
I did notice that you can't push the screen all the way back
and get that maximum degree of viewing angle
with this particular case,
just because obviously these two sections here overlap
as you can see there.
I really didn't notice a huge deal, though.
You may be only missing out on a few degrees
of viewing angle and most of the time you're not
going to be using your laptop like this,
but it's honestly not a big issue at all.
You maybe miss out on just a slight little bit
of adjustment.
Now this next con is not specific to this particular case;
it's all cases.
Sometimes you will be able to get dust
and maybe bits of sand, depending on where you live,
in between the actual case and the chassis of the MacBook,
particularly underneath the MacBook,
where you have these little gaps.
And if bits and sand and dust get in there,
it may cause a tendency to have some small
very minor scuffing or scratching
as the case rubs against that dust or sand.
This is going to be very, very minor,
and it's not going to be a huge deal,
but I do recommend taking your laptop out of the case
every few months and giving it a blast
with some compressed air or just giving it a clean
and a wipe down just to get all that dust
and sand and lint and whatever else out of there
so you don't run the very small risk admittedly
of scratching the metal chassis.
Speaking of scratches,
the top lid can be somewhat easy to scratch.
You can see here
I've already got a little scratch on the top
when I rubbed it against some metal before.
It's not super, super noticeable, in fact,
I can kind of scratch it with my fingernails.
Not really that bad, it's mainly going to be
against solid, things like metal pens
or metal objects that are going to scratch it
and cause that marking,
but stuff like fingernails, not really an issue.
So I would say it's relatively sturdy.
At the end of the day,
if something's going to scratch the top of your MacBook,
better to be the plastic case than the metal chassis.
Now, the last negative for me is the cut-out on the side.
Now this is going to actually rue you out
from quite a few USB-C and Thunderbolt hubs.
So it's mainly going to be the hubs that actually attach
on to the side of your MacBook.
They are not going to fit.
So the only hubs that are going to work with this
are ones that attach via a cable,
such as this particular anchor hub
which I've reviewed in a previous video.
You can see that fits perfectly fine.
But if this was one of those hubs that actually attached
like that, it would not fit at all
because obviously you have the overhang from the case.
Anyway, guys, thanks for watching this video.
Let me know in the comments section
what you think of this case or just cases in general.
Like I said before, I personally don't use them.
I like to enjoy my MacBooks in all
of their naked, metallic glory,
but I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
Anyway, thanks for watching.
And I'll catch you in the next one.