Sarah Meikle | Make Your Mark

Hard Candy Case for 15″ Macbook Pro with Retina Display

Anyone who has forked out the considerable amount of cash for a new 15″ Mac Book Pro with the Retina display should invest a little more in protecting their ‘baby’.

My last Mac Book Pro was the far heftier 17″ version and was protected by a Rhino Gear case.  However, upon replacing it with the new 15″ Retina version, I was upset to find out that Rhino Gear no longer manufactured protective cases for the Macbook Pros. Why?  I am not sure, since it surely tripled the life of my last computer.  In fact, when, after five years of being hauled all over creation, my Rhino Gear case finally began to fall apart, it was a mere month or two until my Macbook Pro went the way of the Dodo as well, which only reinforced my faith in having a Macbook in a permanent protective case.

So, as I waited the six weeks between the time I ordered my Macbook Pro last May and the time it arrived, I began researching alternatives to Rhino Gear cases.  I was surprised to find very little on the market.  Now, granted, the 15″ Macbook Pro with the Retina display had just been released, yet I thought more companies would be proactively trying to capitalise on consumers (who obviously have money to spend on technology) wanting to purchase the accessories for their new gear.  However, I did find reports that Hard Candy would be releasing one at the beginning of August and they were taking pre-release orders.  There were alternatives, such as those made by Kuzy, iPearl and Speck, however none of those seemed to offer much protection from significant bumps and falls.  The Hard Candy cases, on the other hand, seemed like they would.

So, I forked over my $66.95 and placed a pre-release order. This is where things get a tad confusing.  I have nothing but glowing praise for the case I eventually received, however, I was less than impressed with the customer service.  Originally, the cases were supposed to ship on September 1st.  I did not get mine until mid-January!  Not only did I wait a long time for it, but the notices I received (and didn’t receive) from Hard Candy left a lot to be desired in terms of business acumen and customer relations.  In fact, to add insult to injury, at one point I even received an email asking me to complete a survey about how satisfied I was with the product I had yet to receive!

That being said, I believe Hard Candy is a new-ish company and I will put that down to growing pains.  Like I said, the product itself, once it arrived, is fantastic.  As they say on their site, the cases are easy enough to snap on an off, yet not so easy that they would fall off.

Hard Candy Case Clicks into place on the corners

The 5 mil. corner bumpers protect your investment from the shock of the occassional, unintended fall, all the while leaving all of your peripheries accessible.

In short, if you own a new Macbook Pro, buy a Hard Candy Case for it. Hopefully their customer service has improved since I ordered, but even if they make you wait, you will be happy once it arrives.