Price: $70
The Macbook Pro Retina is two-tenths of an inch thinner than its non-Retina counterpart. So Apple had to pare down ports, including the Kensington lock hole. Though the Kensington cable lock was shrimpy—anyone with a decent lock cutter, or even strong hands and a wire cutter, could get through—it was still a good deterrent.
Luckily, there's now an option for tying up the new computers: Maclocks' lock bracket. Unlike other locks, this one doesn't involve covering the laptop's case in tacky plastic. It's a minimal strip of metal that bolts to the butt of the computer. Installing it requires unscrewing the back row of the case's screw, laying the metal bar on, and inserting slightly longer screws to which the lock will attach. The lock mechanism itself, which closes with a key, works just like a Kensington of yore.
Rachel Z. Arndt is the author of the essay collection Beyond Measure. Her writing has appeared in Quartz, The Believer, Fast Company, and elsewhere. She lives in Chicago.
