The SurfacePad for MacBook Pro 13" by Twelve South
The Twelve South SurfacePad is one of those products that you don’t realise you want until you have it…
After reviewing the Twelve South BookArc for MacUser magazine, Twelve South asked if I’d also be interesting in taking a look at their ‘SurfacePad’ product: a cover for the palm-rest area 13 or 15″ MacBook Pro.
Having checked out the Twelve South website (by the way, I piggin’ love their logo - only just figured out the arrow is a ‘12′ on its side!) there didn’t seem like there was anything to get particularly excited about. It’s just a cover, right?
So it arrived and I installed it and… I wouldn’t be without it!
So what’s the big deal?
The SurfacePad is, on the surface (ahem - see what I did there?), merely a thin piece of custom-cut napa leather which covers the area around the keyboard and trackpad. It costs $39 (roughly £20) and if you don’t want to buy direct from Twelve South, the Apple store stocks it. But the comfort the product bestows belies its physical simplicity.
Installing it on the MacBook Pro is as simple as peeling off the back and sticking it to your MacBook Pro. However, here’s a little positive thing that is worth mentioning: the adhesive cover on the back of the SurfacePad is split into three sections and numbered 1-3. The benefit of this is that if you are a mole-handed clown like myself, it gives you chance to align the sticky stuff a section at a time which stops it looking like a dog’s dinner when installed.
Once applied the MacBook opens and shuts perfectly (it’s cut so it doesn’t intervene with the lid) and provides a nice soft surface to rest your hands on whilst typing. It’s also nice in colder locations too as even when the MacBook is cold, the surface doesn’t feel anywhere near as cold as the standard aluminium. There are some swirly patterns on the sample I received but they are fairly inoffensive. If you’d rather, Twelve South also make a smooth version without the pattern. Either way, patterned or not, the black actually looks great when on the MacBook Pro, complimenting the black bezel of the screen.
Should you need to remove the SurfacePad down the line, I’m reliably informed it will peel away without leaving any horrid residue. In the name of investigative journalism I should probably check that claim. But I won’t; because then I’d be without my trusty SurfacePad!
