Give Your MacBook a Thick Skin: Seven Laptop Skin Companies Worth Your Money
The latest unibody aluminum MacBooks are fantastic, and I truly love mine, but I found out quickly that the aluminum surface doesn’t take kindly to scratching. Within the first week of owning it, I had an inch long nick in the top cover…it mocks me daily. So finding some adhesive skin options to protect my precious has become a major todo list item.
Below is a listing of seven different lines of laptop skins that are sure to keep your precious MacBook safe from scratches.
GelaSkins & Infectious
The usual suspects seem to be GelaSkins and Infectious (see disclosure at bottom). Both have some incredible artists delivering stunning designs, and both offer skins for a number of different devices (iPod, iPhone, MacBooks, Wallpaper graphics, etc) to suit nearly anyone’s needs. The 13″ MacBook skins run $30 at both sites. (Though iPhone skins are $10 instead of $15 at Infectious.)
iamhuman
iamhuman has a relatively limited number of designs, but they are very clean. The stylization of the iamhuman skins is top notch — these are definitely a bit more my style. They sport some lovely wood-grain designs if you’re into that kind of thing. A stand-out feature is the cutout so you can still proudly display the Apple logo. Prices range from $30-$45 and they work for Apple and PC notebooks alike.
Macvatar
Similar to iamhuman skins, Macvatar also has the Apple logo cutout in their skins. Unfortunately their designs are extremely limited at only 6 options. These skins price at $25, making them the cheapest options yet for protecting the outer shell of your MacBook.
Skinizi
Skinizi designs are slightly edgier, though I really like their comic-looking cityscapes. They offer skins for laptops, iPod/iPhone, and Nintendo DS. Prices are 25 Euro, which is around US$31 currently.
iStyles
Going the distance it seems, is iStyles, which sells its protective skin designs for $25, and you not only get the top cover, but also a wrist rest skin too. Pretty decent deal! The designs are all over the board, so you can probably find something you’ll like. iStyles also offers skins for several different electronics if you’re in the market.
SkinStyler
Probably least to the point of what I was looking for — yet pretty cool — are the offerings at SkinStyler. They only make wrist rest and trackpad skins. As for me, I’m not sure I’d love the trackpad skin. The organic style of the wrist rest skins however are pretty cool — especially on the black MacBooks.
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- GelaSkin
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- Infectious
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- iamhuman
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- Macvatar
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- Skinizi
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- iStyles
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- SkinStyler
If you’ve got first hand experience with any of these products, or know of some other options that people should check out, share the wealth below in the comments.
Disclosure: Infectious is backed by True Ventures, which is also an investor in Giga Omni Media, the parent company of this network. Giga Omni Media founder Om Malik is a venture partner with True Ventures.
Tweet This (20)
Ocell on March 16th, 2009 at 8:03 am
I’ve got a full body skin from http://www.bestskinsever.com on my 15″ Unibody, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s clear, so it gives the body a clear-coat like glossy finish. The kit comes with pieces to cover almost all of the exposed aluminum on the machine. It fully covers the bottom of the laptop, which is much more important than the lid to me, since dirty table tops are the most likely places to pick up scratches. It’s a great option if you don’t want to put graphics on your machine, but you still want the protect the case.
Janet on March 16th, 2009 at 9:09 am
You should check out the ulrasuede skins at schtickers.com http://www.schtickers.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=53 I got the light blue one with the apple cut out and man is it amazing!
I love it!
Janet
iarwen on March 16th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I had a bright pink Gelaskin cover on my white plastic Macbook (late 2007 version) and I loved it. It always caught atterntion and it was a good protection tool against little scratches. My new MacBook Pro is still boring grey and naked. But I’ll try to personalize it some time soon. You can take a look at this happy couple together. Pink Macbook really stands out.
http://iarwen.ru/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/apple-zoo.jpg
Recently I wrote a post in my blog about different covers you can buy to give your mac some colour and prepare it for spring. It’s all in Russian though. But if you are interested you can take a look at the pictures and click the links.
http://iarwen.ru/2009/03/new-spring-ideas-for-mac/
I really liked cute textile cases I found on flickr. I would love to make something like that to my MBP. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernfiddlehead/sets/72157601025741549/
DeanDMX on March 16th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
While practical the problem with these “skins” is that they are mostly naff. The same applies with the iPhone and iPod. I get torn between wanting to keep my expensive equipment looking fresh and being able to admire Apple’s industrial design.
I have yet to see a design or silicone skin that looks any good. For example the ones featured in the screen shot are shockingly bad. And if you are a Mac user chances are you care a modicum about aesthetics.
zoolander on March 16th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Any good resources for doing a custom design of your own onto a cover? I would love to do my own logo or something like that. Could be cool, but I don’t want to commit to having 15 or more skins made.
Jesus Franco on March 16th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
@ Zoolander, yea there are a few actually.
I recomend skinit.com,
my previous employer (Mohegun Sun) slaps it’s logo on every employee laptop and to be honest it might be the highest quality skin I’ve ever seen in person. Their prices are not that far off from buying a skin that isn’t customized. Skinit’s print quality has to be almost as good as car decals and stuff, it’s insane. And a lot more affordable then getting a paint job.
Scott Rafferty on April 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I recommend MacStyles. All of the designs are cut out of solid colors. The designs are mostly simplistic but still make a bold statement. They also have MacPad, which are skins for around the keyboard.
Robert Oleysyck on April 18th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I really like the style of the designs at iamhuman, but they don’t make any of them for the 17″ MacBook Pro. Boooooo!
Jay on May 31st, 2009 at 6:49 am
iToppers.com also makes skins for MacBooks and they are priced really well. They were one of the first on the market and they have some fun and unique designs — I like the tie-dye frog. You can have custom skins made from your own artwork and you get two copies for the same price others charge for one (in case you mess up installation or it gets scratched in time).
Randall on June 8th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
After exhaustive research, I purchased both an iStyles and a Skinnit for my new 15″ MacBook Pro. The Skinnit is very cool in that they offer custom choice. You can upload your own photo or image, as well as add graphics and lettering. I decided on a photo of mine (with nothing added) which looks very cool (although it came out a bit darker than I expected). One very pleasant surprise is that the Skinit product has a cut-out for the Apple logo.
Comparing the Skinit and iStyles, side by side, the Skinit is thicker and says “3M” on the backing. However, the iStyles is a bit larger, covering the full lid area of the MBP, while the Skinit leaves a 1/4″ gap all around.
Also, the iStyles has a wrist rest strip, while the Skinit doesn’t. In the end I applied the custom Skinit to the lid, along with tthe wrist rest from the iStyles.
Randall on June 8th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Forgot the Skinit website: http://www.skinit.com
George on June 26th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Does anyone know which of these include the undercover? I see the tops, but nothing else
Randall on June 26th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
iStyles includes a strip that covers the lower portion under the lid, that is, surrounding the track pad (below the keyboard). Skinit does not (I ended up using the Skinit on the outside, and the iStyles on the inside).
NightHawk on July 14th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
You should also check out http://www.decalgirl.com They have a great selection at about the $25 price range and include the wrist strip.
MarkGary on August 18th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
iStyles includes a strip that covers the lower portion under the lid, that is, surrounding the track padDecalSkin features ultra-high resolution, brilliant full-color design that are processed with UV resistant inks on self-adhesive cast vinyl. It is coated with an extra layer of glossy protective film for the ultimate durability. Once applied, DecalSkin covers up old ugly scratches, and like a thin membrane, it protects and buffers the device surface from occasional nicks and scratches. DecalSkin is not a paper sticker, it leaves no harmful residue when removed and does not void your device warranty. For more details visit us at http://www.decalskin.com/.
Tony on September 17th, 2009 at 9:21 am
I got a laptop skin from http://www.videogame-skins.com i love it. They have a great selection at about the $15 price range
Ed on September 28th, 2009 at 1:56 am
http://www.SkinWeaver.com has a huge variety of designs, also at the $15 price range. Love ‘em!
Ed on September 28th, 2009 at 2:08 am
I see they also have a premium version with thicker skins for better protection.. http://www.SkinWeaver.com .
j on October 1st, 2009 at 12:09 pm
One thing that I wonder about is the insulation value of a skin. Heat dissipation through an aluminum case is significant and is probably part of the design,knowing Apple. How much heat does a skin retain?
Jake Mize on October 29th, 2009 at 10:21 am
http://shop.boomskins.com has a small but good selection of design skins for iPhones, iPods and Apple Laptops. Their quality is comparable to GelaSkins & Infectous. I have owned a BoomSkins and a GelaSkin and their is minimal difference. Also, BoomSkins prices are almost half of most skin providers.
Jay on November 3rd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
http://www.itoppers.com has the Apple logo cut out… and face it, you’ve gotta show off that cool glowing Apple logo. They have a really nice selection and some of the lowest prices. Or, you can create your own custom MacBook skins from artwork or photos.
The Review Site on November 11th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Good post congratulations.