Six 'must-have' MacBook Pro accessories

First thing I needed was a case or sleeve to put my new MacBook Pro into so I could take it out into the big, bad, and rather hard surfaced world. My existing notebook bag was getting old and scruffy, not to mention the fact that it was rather unwieldy, and I needed something to save my MacBook Pro from the drags of gravy.

I decided to go with the minimalist approach, and protect my new MacBook Pro with a G-Form Extreme Sleeve. Manufactured from a composite blend of PORON XRD material and proprietary G-Form materials and technology—material used for sports knee protectors. Ideal not only alone, but for protecting a notebook in another bag, backpack, or suitcase.

Price: $79.99.

Image source: G-Form.

Gone are the days of USB flash drives having to be big things. The SanDisk Cruzer Fit is the smallest USB flash storage drive that I have seen and sticks out of the USB port just enough to remove it.

I went with the 32GB version to augment the 256GB on board solid state drive.

Price: About $20.

Image source: SanDisk.

In an effort to make the MacBook Pro as thin as possible, Apple has done away with the gigabit Ethernet port. So this isn't something that I use all that often—Wi-Fi has all but replaced it—but there are times when I have to resort to a wired connection.

This is where Apple's Thunderbolt to gigabit Ethernet adapter comes in handy. I can throw it into a notebook bag and it's there waiting for me when I need it.

Price: $29.

Image source: Apple.

I love my gadgets, but more gadgets means more chargers, which in turn means having to have more wall outlets.

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.

Fantastic idea.

Price: $34.99.

Image source: Twelve South.

In the pursuit of offering a device that is as thin as possible, Apple kicked the optical drive to the curb along with the Ethernet port.

Being without a CD or DVD drive on the MacBook Pro wasn't a deal-breaker for me, but I still use disks often enough that having a drive I can take with me is handy, hence the reason I grabbed Apple's USB Superdrive. Being no bigger than a CD case means that it is ultra-portable, and only needing a single USB cable for both data transfer and power means I don't end up with a huge kludge of wiring.

Price: $79.

Image source: Apple.

There are two reasons I bought an Apple Time Capsule. First, I wanted a compatible define for 802.11n Wi-Fi access point, and I now own enough Mac products to make owning a backup device that can leverage OS X's Time Machine software.

A Time Capsule isn't cheap, but it makes backing up Macs a breeze.

Price: $299 for 2TB, $499 for 3TB.

Image source: Apple.