Stylish and Rugged Macbook Bags
Whether you’re a student or professional, you need a bag to carry your MacBook and accessories. Fortunately, there are many stylish and rugged bags to choose from.
Depending on how you commute, you may need a durable laptop bag that can stand up to the rigours of public transportation or your work environment.
1. Timbuk 2 Project Backpack
This versatile backpack is an excellent choice for those looking to travel light. Its spacious main compartment has a dedicated laptop sleeve, and the side pockets can hold shoes or extra clothing. Other features include a grab handle, trolley sleeve and external compression straps. The padded straps and grab handles make this backpack easy to carry on any journey.
The minimalist design of the Timbuk2 Project Backpack makes it a great choice for tech-focused commuters who want to be as unobtrusive as possible. The front of the bag features a small loop for bike lights or carabiners, and the branding isn’t too flashy.
Founded in a San Francisco bike messenger’s garage, Timbuk2 has grown to offer a wide range of modern backpacks & messenger bags for urban cyclists & digital nomads. Their budget-tier offerings provide a lot of bang for your buck, while their premium products come with more bells & whistles for gear junkies. With their range of high-end merch, Timbuk2 is a great brand to partner with for custom swag and corporate gifts.
2. Aer City Pack Pro Backpack
As its name suggests, this bag was designed with work travelers in mind, but it also macbook-bags works perfectly as a daypack. It has plenty of pockets to smartly manage daily essentials, plus a padded pocket that holds up to a 15.6-inch laptop. Aer’s thoughtful design also includes a tuck-away back panel where the backpack straps fit when they’re not in use, making this bag look like a normal briefcase.
What really sets this bag apart, though, is how the main zippered compartment opens. Instead of a more daypack-like horseshoe opening, this one folds open into a full clamshell to make packing much easier. This front compartment also has some further granular organizational pockets, which can be used for things like chargers and small travel items.
All of the bag’s zippers are high-quality YKK brand, and the backpack and front pocket have AquaGuard for extra element protection. As an added bonus, there’s a luggage pass-through strap so you can attach this to your suitcase for easy transport. The pack’s straps are also very comfortable to wear and feature some built-in shoulder padding.
3. STM Myth Backpack
If you lug a lot of kit around – be it a laptop, big on-ear headphones, tablet, power supply, paperback books for the journey and so on – then you need a bag that can accommodate it. That’s what STM aims to macbook-bags do with its Myth, a 28-litre bag with multiple compartments for supreme organisation.
STM’s design has a luggage handle pass-through integrated into the lumbar support, to enable you to wheel your suitcase alongside the bag. The company also makes use of a clever air channel back-panel-and-yoke system to wrap the Myth around you and distribute weight more evenly.
Inside, a foam padded pocket accommodates a MacBook up to 15in, and there are additional pockets for accessories like a portable speaker. STM takes the protection of its contents further, using a padding technique called SlingTech that focuses the gapless corners away from the sides of the bag to help ensure that your kit will feel the bumps of a fall first rather than the side walls of the Myth itself. It’s the kind of thoughtful attention to detail that helps set the Myth apart from other bags at this price point.
4. Hauling Mate Backpack
Stylish and safe, this bag is perfect for both travel or daily use. It can easily fit a laptop or Macbook and even has an extra compartment for your tablet. Its padded shoulder straps and back section make it comfortable to carry. The dual-access zipper makes it difficult for thieves to access your belongings.
This backpack is also water-resistant, which gives it a great level of anti-theft protection. Its main compartment is large and has several smaller pockets inside, making it easy to organize your belongings. It is also very lightweight, which helps you avoid aches and pains on your shoulders after carrying it for long periods of time.
Another great feature is that this backpack also doubles as a cross-body bag. This can be useful when you only need a small amount of storage and want to keep your hands free. Its adjustable strap makes it easy to adjust the length to your liking. It is also available in various colors to match your style. Lastly, it comes with a lifetime warranty and has a pocket for your tablet or smartphone.
5. Speck SmartShell Case
A slim, backplate-type case that adds little to no bulk to your MacBook Pro 13″ with Retina, the Speck SmartShell features a few standout features. For one, it has a magnetic strip along the left edge that keeps the iPad mini Smart Cover in place when folded underneath it (and prevents the annoying flop that plagues many other cases).
Like many backplate-type cases, this one covers all four edges of your Macbook, with well-sized cutouts for controls and ports, and a divot on the right side to make it easier to lift up the lid. It’s also made specifically for your machine, so it fits like a glove.
Redesigned corner clips are 60% stronger against bumps and dents, while the form-fitting hardshell helps keep scratches at bay. Its matte finish resists fingerprints and stains too. Rubberized feet on the bottom of the case help prevent your laptop from sliding around on smooth surfaces. The case comes in a range of eye-catching colors too. It’s not the cheapest, but it offers good value for money.