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Why many cases for the MacBook Pro 16" are matte?

 3 years ago
source link: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/why-many-cases-for-the-macbook-pro-16-are-matte.2306723/
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Why many cases for the MacBook Pro 16" are matte?

hajime

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007 6,353
Hi, 10-20 years ago, Speck was the main manufacturer for cases for the MBP. They made shinny looking colorful cases that Apple also sold in their Apple stores. Nowsaday there are many case manufacturers. However, I have a hard time to find cases that are not matte. How come? My impression is that since the arrival of the 16", many cases made are matte, cheap and of low quality (lots of Amazon reviews are about cases getting cracks easily). Looks like they just make cheap cases for the mass market and when they break, customers just buy another one. Is this a trend?

ryanmillercg

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2014 Toronto, ON
Most likely. The laptop case market is smaller than the phone case market. As well, people aren't buying new laptops every 2 years like they do phones. It wouldn't surprise me at all if disposable/temporary products are what works best for the current manufacturers.

Speck's old colorful cases were cool, but did they actually last any longer than today's offerings? I think the nature of these products was always somewhat temporary. After all, the fragility of thin plastic is exactly why we like our Macbooks to be made of aluminum.

hajime

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007 6,353
Manufacturers also like to make more cases for the 13" than for the 16".

All my previous cases lasted long. For the 16" cases, I have used and changed three + returned a few already.

bigrell486

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2006 Home
Hi, 10-20 years ago, Speck was the main manufacturer for cases for the MBP. They made shinny looking colorful cases that Apple also sold in their Apple stores. Nowsaday there are many case manufacturers. However, I have a hard time to find cases that are not matte. How come? My impression is that since the arrival of the 16", many cases made are matte, cheap and of low quality (lots of Amazon reviews are about cases getting cracks easily). Looks like they just make cheap cases for the mass market and when they break, customers just buy another one. Is this a trend?
Matte vs Glossy does not equate to cheap vs quality. They are just different textures and light diffusion.

Also, people go for the cheap cases because some work about the same as the much more expensive ones.
Manufacturers also like to make more cases for the 13" than for the 16".

All my previous cases lasted long. For the 16" cases, I have used and changed three + returned a few already.
The 13” market is probably significantly larger than the 16”.

Under what conditions are you finding issues with your cases? Are they spontaneously failing?

hajime

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007 6,353
I think cases made these days are made thinner and easier to crack. The overall quality are not as good as those made 10-20 years ago. Also, much more matte than glossy ones are made especially for the 16". My 17" MBP 2010 Speck case are still in perfect condition. I think it is at least 2 times thicker than cases for MBP 2019 16".

I got a glitter case and within a week of very careful use at home, a corner and an edge already lost color. They exchanged one and same issue. At the same time, the bottom cases of both are thin and loosely attach to the laptop.
Same looseness issue with another brand case. Other just cracked easily.

Compared to 20-30 years ago, there are many many more people owning laptops these days. Looks like more manufacturers are making cheaper cases for the mass market.

Audit13

macrumors 603
Apr 19, 2017 6,217 1,619 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I prefer matte since it doesn't show all the scratches I've added to my Speck case lol

poked

macrumors 6502
Nov 19, 2014
I’ve never had a laptop case for my Mac, but I guess it’s because I would have wanted to buy a million of them after the first one.

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