What Problems Does This 12.9-inch iPad Pro Magic Keyboard Sleeve Solve?
- Provides a world-class way to protect and transport your 12.9 Apple tablet, Magic Keyboard and Pencil
- Provides the much-needed protection for the vulnerable edges and corners of your iPad Pro 12.9 when used with the Magic Keyboard
- Will last at least as long as you own your Apple tablet
- Will keep your MKB clean and pristine especially the white one
- Feel good knowing you've chosen a product made from ethically sourced leather.
- No need to keep buying sleeve after sleeve due to poor quality
- Meets your need for a well made, durable, protective and aesthetically pleasing case
Presenting the Sleeve for iPad Pro 12.9 with Magic Keyboard
Are you tired of stressing about the possibility of your very expensive iPad Pro 12.9 tablet and keyboard being damaged when you're not using it or when you're transporting it? Apple's typing tool / cover only protects the front glass and rear aluminum surfaces, not the edges and corners. Our Premium Leather Magic Keyboard Sleeve provides world-class protection whether you're traveling around the house, office, or around the world.
This is the latest in a series of interviews about the story behind the design of MacCase products. For this interview, we are speaking to MacCase President Michael Santoro about the new MacCase Sleeve for iPad Pro 12.9 with Magic Keyboard.
JKD - It's great to be with you again. You've been designing sleeves for Apple portables since the inception of the company.
MS - A sleeve was the second product I designed after the original iBook case. It was revolutionary for the time because the few other companies that were making sleeves at the time made them out of neoprene. We didn't.
JKD - Yes, so why this product now? This Apple typing tool has been out for some time and a sleeve for it seems like a simple idea. What was the fountainhead for this model?
MS - Whenever Apple releases a new product, whether it's an accessory or a piece of hardware, we always sit down and analyze it for opportunities. This was probably never done more extensively than for the typing tool / cover for the iPad Pro 12.9.
It checks all our boxes for our product development cycle. The problem was there was a lot of cost and complexity in wanting to do what customers were asking for which was a cover or jacket that wrapped over the Apple product. We did one of these for a previous generation of the iPad Pro typing tools and it didn't do well. People said they wanted one, we did it and it never sold in the numbers we were expecting.
So rushing back out to do another similar product that was going to take some investment was something I was not in a hurry to do. Then out of the blue, a customer contacted me asking if we could make a sleeve as part of our Custom Program that would hold the 12.9 Pro and the keyboard.
Creating the Magic Keyboard Sleeve
One of our most popular models is our iPad Pro Briefcase. One of the reasons for its broad appeal is the fact that it holds the 12.9 keyboard. The cover adds about half an inch to the overall width of the 12.9 iPad Pro due to the hinge sticking out beyond the edge of the tablet. This limits its compatibility with some of our other iPad case models. But it works great with the iPad Pro Briefcase.
We spoke a bit and I asked her what she needed the sleeve to do. She said she wanted it to hold and protect the Pencil and protect the tablet. Getting there from scratch seemed quite easy because the basic blueprint was already done. At least in my head, it was. Unlike our other iPad sleeves, the Magic Keyboard Sleeve needed to be horizontally oriented. This was the great unknown of the design.
The reason why the 12.9 Briefcase works so well for Apple's typing tool / cover is that the tablet is easily placed inside the case with the hinged area along the top edge of the main compartment. Doing a sleeve to mimic this arrangement would be quite easy to do. It took about 20 minutes to lay out the design and realize it would work.
Once I could see the way forward, I let her know we could create the design as part of the Custom Program. She was very happy and we were pleased to be able to do it.
JKD - So how did the design go from a one-off custom piece to a production model?
MS - Going from a bespoke, one-off custom piece to a production model was also very easy. The question is whether there is anyone else out there who might want one. Typically, if one person is asking for something, there are at least 10 others who want that same thing, or something close to it but never reach out to let you know.
Magic Keyboard Sleeve: Keep it Clean and Protected
JKD - So MacCase reached out to them?
MS - Yes. We reached out to our loyal customer base and asked if there was any interest in the Magic Keyboard Sleeve. We didn't have a photo of the product to show, just a drawing. I think customers could get a good idea of what the sleeve was going to be about, how it would work, how protective it would be, etc. by that drawing.
These are people who are well versed in the MacCase design vocabulary. They can look at a drawing, understand what is going on and decide whether there is value there for them. In this case, the value proposition was high. It turns out that our Custom Program customer was not the only one who thought this was a good idea.
JKD - One complaint I often hear about the plastic material the keyboard is made from is how dirty it gets. People will tell me that they are sometimes embarrassed when they pull out their iPad and the keyboard is dirty or stained.
MS - Yes, that is very true. I think many users can identify with this pain point. You have this very expensive tablet and typing accessory. No one wants to take theirs out in a professional environment and have it look like something you got 10 minutes ago at Goodwill. This new slipcase will go a long way to keeping your iPad and keyboard clean and pristine.
Here we are with a beautiful, new horizontally oriented sleeve that will hold, store, transport, and protect this very expensive Apple accessory and its matching tablet. We're not breaking any new ground with the design. That's not what this is about. This is about bringing something quickly to market and doing it in the MacCase way. It's something that people can count on.
iPad Magic Keyboard Sleeve
JKD - There is a lot to like about this iPad Magic Keyboard Sleeve. It seems to have all the qualities of MacCase products. Can you speak to this idea of the "MacCase way"? Tell us what that means.
MS -The idea that our products needed to add up to something more than the sum of their parts has been with us since the beginning. The original MacCase did that. It put a smile on every face that saw it or used it. It was much more than a laptop case.
We've been doing this for almost 25 years now which is insanely scary for me to think about. (Laughing). We have customers who have been with us since the pre-leather days. Sometimes I will get emails with images of these nylon models that are 15 years old. It's like seeing an old friend.
Then we have a huge group of customers that have been with us since the birth of the Premium Leather Collection. They have or have had multiple MacCase models over the years. They appreciate what we do. They know our brand stands for something.
If we put out a new model, there is a whole host of expectations that come with it. If we get it right, we meet those expectations or with some new designs, exceed them, then we're golden. If we fail to do that, it takes a huge effort to make that right. Our goal was not to just make a nice slip case, but to make the best sleeve for iPad Pro 12.9 with magic keyboard.
I still get people asking why we changed our iPad Folio design from the stamped steel frame to the tray design. We made the frame design for 7 years. People had a relationship with that design.
They lived with it for a long time through many successive Apple tablet generations. It was just as much a part of their iPad user experience as the home button and the software. When we change something, we make sure it's for the better.
It might take some of the folks who were used to the old way a minute or so to get on board with the new way, but if it's truly an improvement, they'll continue to take the ride with us. As a designer and the leader of a company, when you can interact with people at that level, that's a very good thing to be able to do.
Overall, the MacCase way is a unique combination of a timeless aesthetic design combined with outstanding engineering and world-class materials and build quality. Putting all those elements together so they add up to something greater than the sum of the parts is what we do best. We've been doing it for over 20 years and this new Magic Keyboard Sleeve is just the latest expression of that.
JKD - Wow, thanks so much.
MS - Always a pleasure Jody.
