MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro accessories

1 of 19 NEXT PREV

Introduction

Here's my list of must-have accessories for this popular mobile notebook. All of these are products that I rely on daily to get my work done, and all have been field tested for durability and reliability.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Apple

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock
The OWC Thunderbolt 2 Dock features:
- 2 x Thunderbolt 2
- 5 x USB 3.0 (including two high-power ports for fast-charging devices such as smartphones and tablets)
- 1 x FireWire 800
- 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
- 1 x HDMI 1.4b with 4K display support
- 1 x 3.5mm audio input / mic
- 1 x 3.5mm audio output / headphone
Can theoretically connect up to 78 devices over a single Thunderbolt connection.
Price: $250.
Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: OWC

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
OWC Envoy Pro EX

The 480GB OWC Envoy Pro EX is an ultra-portable, SuperSpeed bus-powered external SSD storage solution built around OWC's Aura Pro SSD, which is a fast SSD capable of transfer rates of up to 500MB/s.
Price: $349.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Snuglet

The Snuglet is a precision-engineered metal ring that attaches to the MagSafe 2 connector that increases the strength of the magnetic connection while still allowing you to attach and detach the connector normally.
Price: $20.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: OWC

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
OWC Envoy Pro mini

Here is the 240GB OWC Envoy Pro mini (also available in 120GB). On the outside this looks like a regular USB thumb drive, but it is in fact, a desktop-class SSD in disguise capable of transfer rates up to 433 MB/s. This performance means that you can move large files back and forth, run virtual machines off the drive, and even boot up an OS.
Price: $199 for 240GB

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Matrox DualHead2Go Digital ME

The Matrox DualHead2Go Digital Mac Edition (ME) external multi-display adapter adds up to two monitors to your laptop or desktop computer.
Price: $150.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Matrox

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Monoprice USB-C cables

If you've got Apple's new MacBook featuring the single USB-C port then you're going to want some cables, and after testing a few I think that Monoprice delivers the goods at a decent price.
Price: From $10.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Nifty MiniDrive

The Nifty MiniDrive makes use of the MacBook’s SD card slot to add to additional storage space.
Price: From $35.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Nifty

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Twelve South PlugBug

The Twelve South PlugBug solves this problem by combining the MacBook Pro charger with a 2.1A USB charger. The output of the USB charger is powerful enough to charge an iPad, which means having to carry one less wall wart.
Price: $34.99.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Twelve South

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
SKB iSeries 1813-5 waterproof laptop case

The SKBi Series 1813-5 is a hard waterproof laptop case manufactured to Mil-Spec, TSA-approved lockable case can take a notebook up to 17-inches, and has space in the lid and underneath the notebook for stuff.
Price: $199.99.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: SKB

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
SanDisk Flash Drive

The SanDisk Flash Drive features a standard USB 3.0 Type-A connector on one side and a USB Type-C connector on the other, making it ideal for the new MacBook featuring a single USB-C port.
Price: From $50.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Apple Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter

Apple's Thunderbolt to gigabit Ethernet adapter is somethiung that comes in handy. I can throw it into a notebook bag and it's there waiting for me when I need it.
Since I take a lot of photographs, and I back up to a NAS box, I need a fast connection, and this dongle gives me just that.
Price: $29.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Apple

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Western Digital My Passport Pro drive

The 2TB My Passport Pro houses two drives for added data security. Using the supplied software you can configure these drives as RAID 0 or RAID 1 (depending on whether you want speed or data duplication) or you can set them to appear as separate drives.
Price: $299.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Western Digital

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Apple AirPort Time Capsule

The Apple's Time Capsule isn't cheap, but it does make backing up Macs a breeze, and because of this it is well worth the money.
Price: $299 for 2TB, $399 for 3TB.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Apple

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
G-Form MacBook sleeve

The G-Form Extreme Sleeve is constructed from RPT – Reactive Protection Technology, a composite blend of PORON XRD material and proprietary G-Form materials and technology – and is designed specifically for laptop users on the go.
Price: $79.99.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: G-Form

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Apple USB Superdrive

Despite Apple's belief that optical discs are dead, some of us still need to use them.
The Apple's USB Superdrive is no bigger than a CD case, and that means that it is ultra-portable, and only needs a single USB cable for both data transfer and power means I don't end up with a huge kludge of wiring.
Price: $79.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Apple

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Western Digital My Passport Ultra

The Western Digital MyPassport Ultra is a portable drive that you can slip into your pocket, and yet it features 256-bit hardware encryption and integrated local and a cloud backup solution that allows you to make use of your Dropbox account for create a separate backup.
Price: 1TB for around $80/2TB for $120.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Photo by: Western Digital

Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
OWC ThunderBay 4 RAID 5 edition

The first and only software RAID 5 technology developed for the Mac with the ThunderBay 4 RAID 5 Edition. Featuring dual Thunderbolt 2 connectivity and offering up to 35 percent faster RAID 5 performance and exponentially faster rebuild times than comparable hardware based RAID arrays.
Storage options from 4TB to 24TB.
This is what I now use as my main backup system.
Price: From $818.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
NewerTech miniStack MAX

The NewerTech miniStack MAX puts the diverse functionality of a high-capacity hard drive, Blu-ray/CD/DVD optical drive, SD card reader and USB powered hub into a single elegant aluminum finish enclosure.
Storage options from 0TB (add your own drive) to 6TB.
I find this handy when using my MacBook Pro at my desk.
Price: From $159.

Published: May 7, 2015 -- 15:03 GMT (08:03 PDT)
Caption by: Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Here's my list of must-have accessories for this popular mobile notebook. All of these are products that I rely on daily to get my work done, and all have been field tested for durability and reliability.