Looking for a Great iPad Case with Handle?

( As told to Jody K. Deane by Michael Santoro, President and Chief Creative Officer or MacCase, Mar. 2016 )

Jody: There seems to be a resal buzz around the design studio lately. I keep hearing and seeing the words" the best" everywhere. What is the best leather iPad Pro case to you?

MS: The best 12.9 iPad Pro leather case is protective, timeless, beautifully made, thoughtfully designed and easy to use. The best case will endear itself to it’s owner. It becomes part of who they are, like their watch or favorite jacket.

Our vintage brown leather takes this to another level. The hide wil patina in over time, getting lighter in color as the oil evaporates out but darker in color where you touch it. Eventually, your case will only look like your case. Customers love this about our vintage leather. It's an endearing feature of the hides we use that only reveals itself over time.

JKD- How is this Flight Jacket different from the othr MacCase vertical models?

MS: As our product line, specifically our Premium Leather models, have expanded, so too have the options we have offered with each model. We offer a lot of designs without handles. With our new iPad case with handle we take the options list to a whole new level. The wide array of options allows customers to build the design of their dreams.

While it's about the same size overall as the current 13" MacBook Pro version, this new tablet specific model represents the future of what has been called "The Greatest Laptop Case Ever Designed".

The most obvious visual change is a new stripe down the middle of the bag. This is the visual design element that is present on all the Pro specific models. The center stripe does have a function. It is the holder for the Apple Pencil but again, also serves as a visual cue to let everyone know that this model is designed specifically for Apple newest and largest tablet.

A Better Closure and Better Storage

JKD: The closure mechanism is different. Tell us about that.

MS: While we have added the new center stripe, the vertical side squeeze buckle and velcro closure for the flap are gone. The flap will no longer be closed with the twin velcro pads that was part of the original Flight Jacket design going back to 2008.  

The new flap closure borrows the horizontal clasp latch from MacCase's $300+ Premium Leather Flight Case leather briefcase. It uses the same "tucked under and away" placement allowing the clasp to add detail to the front of the bag without becoming the overpowering visual element.

If you unlatch the flap and fold it up, you'll see that the twin velcro pads are still there. They have been repurposed. Their new reason for being is to supply the attachment points for the optional, removable storage pouches which are the first of the 5 new options we will discuss.

The smaller of the two pouches is about the same size as the current pouch that is on all the MacBook Pro models. The second of the 2 pouches, the Large, is about 50% larger. It features twin exterior pockets as well as an interior mesh pocket to hold smaller items.

These kinds of details were requested by several customers during our "what features do you want in your 12.9 cases" outreach. We listened. When we say we want these cases to be the best, we're serious.

Both pouches feature the same center stripe design element that that is so prominent on the body of the bag. This beautifully ties them visually to the bag whether you're using the small or large pouch.

One big difference between these two new pouches and the current MacBook Pro Flight Jacket pouch is that these use zippers. The current models use a small velcro square for a closure. Moving to zippers for these pouches are a huge improvement in quality, safety and security.

Another detail that also carries over from today's pouch designs is the small tab on the rear of the pouch. This tab is designed to slot into the horizontal loop on the front face of the case body.

This is a security feature. If, for whatever reason the pouch is not securely attached at the top and it should somehow come loose and attempts to fall off, the small tab will prevent this. It has been on our Jacket models since the beginning and it has saved more than a few pouches from being lost.

Creating a Leather iPad Backpack

JKD: Tell us about the other options

MS: The next two options are carry over from the current vertical case options list: backpack straps and a shoulder pad. These options are favorites with current Flight Jacket owners so it made sense to carry them over to the new Pro model.

Next on the options list is a new slip case for the iPhone. This new model is not iPhone specific. We designed it so your iPhone can wear a band or other such snap on case and still fit in the new slip case.

The slip case is designed to slip onto the shoulder strap so your iPhone is always just where you need it. It features the same "Center Stripe" design vocabulary as the Flight Jacket so when you add it, it will all match perfectly.

This has been a very exciting time for MacCase. It's not everyday or even every year we get a new form factor to design for from Apple. This new 12.9 case with handle give us a chance to flex our creative muscle and implement certain features that customers have been asking for.

It also gives us a chance to open things up a bit to allow customers to truly build the design of their dreams. Do you want extra storage, a backpack and a place for your iPhone? Want it to all match and be integrated beautifully? Now you can have that. It's all part of what we look at as the way of biulding the best iPad Pro leather case available.  

In addition, you can order one of these designs today and just get the base model. Come back in a month and order a pouch. Come back a month later and order the iPhone case or the shoulder pad.

The choice is yours and our options plan allows the design to grow and change as your needs do. We hope to implement these type of option plans for as many products as we can going forward.