Waltzing Matilda Leather MacBook Pro Sleeves, 1 Year Later

With my 15” MacBook Pro Retina purchase last March, I ordered a leather sleeve that would look nice, smell nice and be very soft in protecting the MacBook inside of my backpack. The Waltzing Matilda Quinn Sleeve ($140) fits the 13” and 15” MacBook Retina. At first, I wasn’t thrilled with the case, it was bigger than expected because of the way the stitching is on the edges. It also didn’t fit very well in my small Kata bag. I decided to keep the bag and hope that it starts to shape to the MBP a bit better. I’d carry the notebook in this bag solos sometimes and I’d massage and oil the leather to have it hug the notebook better. Now, a year later, I love this bag. It’s exceptional and it has shown some wear but the construction is flawless.

When Heather purchased a 13” Core i7 MacBook Pro Retina to replace her 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo Polycarbonate MacBook, I recommended Waltzing Matilda’s sleeves. She bought the Riley Sleeve ($150). Both sleeves have their advantages with the Riley containing more coverage as it has a flap that fully closes on the MacBook with a legal-folder style string to keep the flap closed and secured.

When we both went out for a coffee yesterday, I noticed the wear & tear that my sleeve has seen. Leather shows use which I personally like and it was great to see our sleeves side-by-side. I think mine looks better with scratches and discoloring. Her’s will look similar in time.

I’m also a bit jealous as my case had a lead time for 2 weeks when I ordered it and her’s shipped the same day. I guess their team is now keeping up with Apple Store orders. These are very expensive sleeves compared to the standard $39 neoprene models but you’re getting American Leather assembled in America and by hand with care. These cases will long outlive the MacBook Pros they are protecting. I hope Apple maintains the Retina form factor for a few more years so I can keep using this case.