How do you make a Macbook Pro even more pro? Once you get past the top spec and good looks, there are a surprisingly large number of ways to up the ante of your favoured laptop. We’ve rounded up just a few of them on this run-down of the best Apple Macbook Pro accessories.
If you’re not sure exactly what you’re in the market for, our quick tip for Macbook ownership is to invest in a portable power pack like our first pick, the , which also charges phones and tablets – because there’s nothing worse than realising you’ve left your charger at home and seeing that little red battery.
If you’re already doing pretty well on the accessories front and it’s compatibility you’re after, take a look at the official charger or to make sure everything stays in use, even with a vastly reduced number of ports. Whatever you’re looking for in a laptop helper, you’ll find our recommendations, covering a whole lot of bases, in our list below.
This portable powerstation wins our top spot for best Macbook accessory with its mix of versatility and reliability – in other words, it does the job, and it does it on more than just one device. Should you get caught short, you can expect it to charge a MacBook Retina for up to 14 hours, an iPad Pro 9.7” for 19, and a smartphone for an impressive 72, and it only requires 3 hours of its own charging to be ready to go again.
It’s surprisingly portable for such a beefy power pack, making it great for travel, and the premium fabric wrap is simply a great standout touch among anonymous-looking tech items.
As computers get smaller, thinner and lighter we can sometimes find ourselves unwillingly sacrificing ports for the privilege, so if you have a lot of extra accessories or devices that need multiple inputs, you might want to consider something like this Type-C Hub Adapter.
This one from Satechi is plug and play for maximum ease, and doesn’t require any drivers or software, so you can get going straight away. It features two USB, a USB-C, USB-C PD, SD, microSD and HDMI ports, and comes in a choice of Space Grey or silver to suit all computers.
A couple of years down the line from purchase, as your laptop flashes up with another ‘disk full’ warning, you might be regretting going for the lower spec, but there are cheaper ways to upgrade.
This Transcend JetDrive storage expansion card sits neatly in the card slot to generously pop between 64 and 256 GB of extra storage onto your Macbook Pro.
Even heavy users, such as career developers, and people under the age of 20, find it stands up admirably to everyday rigours, including multiple saves, huge files and the system repeatedly sleeping and waking, all of which can outfox some lesser drives.
While there are certainly cheaper laptop stands out there, there's no point in buying the world’s best-looking laptop and then leaving it to rest in a plasticky stand.
This Twelve South BookArc stand is a handsome piece of kit in itself, coming in a choice of silver and space grey to suit your laptop’s colours.
Unlike most stands, it holds your closed Macbook vertically to save space, ideal if you alternate between laptop and desktop and need all the elbow room you can get, and its cable management system (or 'hooks', as we like to call them) keep things looking clutter-free.
If you frequently carry your Macbook from place to place, it makes sense to invest in a proper purpose-built case. This one by Incase is engineered to be the ideal meeting of lightweight and tough, with Woolenex for durability, moisture repelling and stretch-resistance, and an EVA bumper frame to absorb impact from any oopsies.
However, a word of caution from reviewers that’s definitely worth heeding: be careful to carry it the right way up, otherwise the magnetic strip closure can come unclipped from the weight of the Macbook plus gravity. You have been warned!
With a choice of 1, 2 or 4 terabytes, this portable hard drive packs in more storage than the Tardis, yet is still small and slender enough to take with you. As well as the pocket-sized portability, it's simple to set up and quick to respond.
The backup facility, courtesy of the Seagate Dashboard, is there for you to source and download if you don’t get on with Time Machine.
Having been finalised back in 2014 by the USB Implementers Forum – yes, that is a thing – USB-C has been steadily appearing on devices including the Macbook Pro ever since.
If you don’t want to run out and buy all-new tech before the inevitable phasing out of the original chunky USB, consider something like this official Apple USB-C to USB adapter. This allows you to connect iOS devices like the iPhone or iPad, as well as standard USB accessories such as hard-drives, to your Pro's USB-C or Thunderbolt port, for charging and syncing.
Mice (mouses?) aren’t generally known for their good looks, but the Magic Mouse is an exception. A sleek pebble-like wireless mouse, it looks right at home with an equally sleek Macbook and pairs easily over Bluetooth, so there are no wires to get in the way.
The one-piece construction isn’t interrupted by a scrolling wheel or separate buttons. Instead, you can easily zoom, click, right-click, and perform all manner of keyboard shortcuts just by adjusting your fingers. This can take some getting used to, but its endless motion customisability somewhat softens the blow.
