Not enough products these days have actually thoughtful names – Uniea’s Haptique is a notable exception. As you might have guessed, haptique is the french word for haptic, from the Greek ‘Haphe’, which means pertaining to the sense of touch.
And guess what makes this hard shell case special? Firstly, it’s for those lucky geeks who got the new aluminum MacBooks, and second, it’s got a leather-like texture on the outside that actually feels soft. Quite a feat if you ask me, because this case is made entirely from hardened plastic.
I got the chance to play a bit with it and I was impressed by the fact that it was extremely easy to put on – it is held in place by small insertions – which means you just pop it in and you’re done. Usually, hard cases won’t fit perfectly and have an annoying jiggle – but not the Haptique: small, round, black rubber pads surround the display shield to reduce movement between the laptop and the case. You can notice an attention to details: since the case has its own rubber grip stands, they indented the spot where the MacBook ones will fit.
Another common plague to this kind of cases is inadequate ventilation – a problem which the Haptique designers solved by including 2 ventilation ports – seated beneath the fans. They were also careful not to block the rear exhaust.
I’ve seen some cases that do not obstruct the view of the mighty Apple logo, either by cropping a circle around it or including a second transparent material. I personally agree with the designers’ decision not to continue that tradition – the result is quite elegant.
Here are some close-up pictures of the most important parts of the case:
If you want to look closely – click on the picture.
You can see the texture of the the outside in this close-up of the Uniea logo.
Uniea is relatively new to this space – but clearly has its aim on quality. They recently established a partnership with Barnes & Noble to distribute their entire product line via the books.com website in addition to uniea.com.
The Haptique is a must-have for any MacBook owner – and especially college students or people who travel a lot; it’s a great no-frills way of protecting your MacBook from scratches, wear and the occasional misfortunate drop.
I’d like to extend my thanks to Michael from Uniea, who, unlike most of the PR representatives I’ve talked to, was very helpful and responded in a timely manner.
Posted on March 3, 2009 by Stefan