Laptop Sleeve Size Guide
Buy a laptop sleeve by measuring your closed laptop, not by its screen size. Bezels have shrunk over the past decade, so a current 14-inch machine can be physically smaller than a five-year-old 13-inch, and two laptops both sold as 15.6 inch can differ by over a centimetre in width. Screen size sorts sleeves into rough bins. It does not tell you whether one fits.
How to measure
Close the laptop and measure three things in centimetres:
- Width — the long edge, left to right
- Depth — front to back, hinge to front edge
- Height — the thickness of the closed machine
All three are on the manufacturer's spec page under Dimensions if you would rather not get a tape measure out. Then look for a sleeve whose internal dimensions are five to ten millimetres larger in each direction.
Less than five millimetres and it is a fight to insert, particularly in cold weather when the fabric has stiffened. More than ten and the laptop slides around inside, which is what abrades the corners over a couple of years.
The measurement people forget
Thickness. Almost everyone checks width and height and skips depth, and it is the one that splits base seams. A sleeve cut for a thin ultrabook but bought for a thicker gaming laptop or workstation goes on, holds constant tension on the seams, and fails along the bottom edge within a year. Gaming laptops in particular are often twice the thickness of a work machine at the same screen size.
Size table
Approximate internal dimensions by category. Always check the individual product page against your own measurements.
- 13 inch — roughly 31 x 22cm internal. Fits 13" MacBook Air, XPS 13 and similar ultrabooks, plus some compact 14" machines.
- 14 inch — roughly 33 x 24cm internal. The widest-varying category: MacBook Pro 14, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, Zenbook 14. Check dimensions carefully here.
- 15.6 inch — roughly 37 x 26cm internal. The standard Windows work laptop size.
- 16 inch — roughly 37 x 25cm internal but thicker. MacBook Pro 16 and large-screen Windows machines. Note that a 16" MacBook is not much wider than a 15.6" Windows laptop but is deeper and heavier.
- 17 inch — roughly 40 x 28cm internal. Workstations, desktop replacements and 17.3" gaming laptops, which run thick.
Common cross-fit questions
Will a 14 inch laptop fit a 13 inch sleeve? Sometimes. A thin-bezel 14" is often smaller than an older 13", so compare the numbers rather than the labels.
Will a 14 inch sleeve fit a 13 inch laptop? It will go in, but with too much room. The laptop slides, and sliding is what wears corners.
Will a 15.6 inch sleeve fit a 16 inch MacBook Pro? Generally no. The MacBook is deeper and thicker, and forcing it strains the base seam.
Choosing a material once you have the size
- Padded neoprene or foam — the most impact absorption. Look for padding on both faces and wrapped corners, not just a back panel.
- Wool felt — light, warm and good against scratches; absorbs water, so poor for wet commutes.
- Leather — scratch protection and ageing; needs a felt lining to avoid dragging grit across the lid.
- Waterproof synthetics — taped seams and a sealed zip, for cycling and rain.
One more thing: the charger
If you carry a charger, get a sleeve with a front pocket. Putting a charging brick in the main compartment alongside the laptop presses it against the lid, and a hard object pressed against a screen for a whole commute is a common cause of pressure marks on the display.
Shop by size
13" · 14" · 15.6" · 16" · 17". Or shop by material: leather, padded, waterproof.