House saving gadgetry will at all times be in favor now that our houses are additionally our workplaces. With our desks working double obligation as skilled and leisure areas, the quantity of equipment we have now on our tabletops places area at a premium. And so the Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand, combining a MacBook riser with a charging station for MagSafe units looks like a terrific thought worthy of the greatest MacBook stands.
Nonetheless, what on paper appears nice in follow proves irritating. The HiRise Professional might be awkward to make use of, and finally ends up being costly when you consider the price of a sold-separately MagSafe puck — the power-supplying coronary heart of this stands core promoting level.
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand: Worth and availability
Obtainable now, the Twelve South HiRise Professional prices $99.99 (about £80), which places it on the very excessive finish of what laptop computer stands normally price. It makes use of high-grade supplies to justify this, and is attractively designed. However you may get comparable outcomes from far cheaper merchandise. Our choose for a MacBook stand, for example, is the Lululook 360 Rotating Foldable Laptop computer Stand, which at an RRP of $89.99 is ten {dollars} cheaper — and that’s earlier than the low cost gross sales costs that recurrently see it out there cheaper nonetheless.
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand: What’s good?
Although we have now issues with the HiRise Professional, let’s begin with the great things. Twelve South has been making Apple-compatible merchandise for years and years now (it was the primary firm to make a height-adjustable desktop stand), and it at all times does job of constructing its units match the commercial design of Apple’s own-brand merchandise. The HiRise Professional is not any totally different on this regard — it makes use of aluminum in its development, and its MagSafe-ready base is completed in a mushy, darkish leather-based. You’re taking a look at dimensions of 6.69 inches (170 mm) width together with the bottom, 7.36 inches (187mm) depth, once more with the bottom, and an arm area width of 10.94 inches (278 mm). It has a minimal top of three.7 inches (90mm), and may increase your MacBook as much as a top of 5.31 inches (135 mm).
It’s a sturdily-built stand. There’s weight to its base, and feels nicely centered in the way in which it distributes the load of your laptop computer or MacBook — I by no means apprehensive about it toppling over. The V-shaped bracket which cradles your system is neatly designed — topped with a rubber grip to maintain your laptop computer in place, it’s designed to carry all present MacBook sizes, with the V-shaped arm leaving the vast majority of the underside of your MacBook open to cooling, ambient air.
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Twelve South additionally makes it simple to hook up your individual MagSafe charger to the stand, because it’s offered with out the charging puck, even when it helps one. Flip the stand over and a rubber cowl hides a cutaway for the round charger. It matches snugly into place, after which you’ll be able to feed the cabling alongside a channel additionally minimize into the bottom. It’s glorious with the ability to pop my iPhone or AirPods beneath my Mac to present them a fast battery increase, and it’s definitely tidier than having a separate standalone charger taking over desk area.
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand: What’s not so good?
These sturdy factors apart, I discovered the Twelve South HiRise Professional fairly irritating at instances. A lot of that frustration comes from the riser mechanism itself. The Twelve South HiRise Professional makes use of a spring-loaded cylinder to dictate the peak of the stand. It’s launched by an (extremely stiff) locking screw which when launched sees the cylinder pop as much as its most extension. So with a purpose to advantageous tune the peak of the stand, you’ve received to push forcefully down on the riser and reset the lock at your top of alternative.
Not solely is that this awkward to do with any quantity of precision, however the nature of the locking system makes it troublesome to set the peak of the stand whereas additionally maintaining it stage. Count on to must reset the stand a number of instances with a purpose to hold your MacBook from sitting on a slight slant.
Because the locking system traps the riser cylinder in place, it additionally means that you could’t tilt the stand in any respect. You may rotate the arms — however this requires you to unlock the screw once more, and subsequently launch the peak too. So for those who recurrently want to alter place whereas working, it’s going to rapidly turn into a chore.
My different gripes are a bit extra particular to my private arrange, so mileage could fluctuate on this regard, however I discovered that the utmost elevation of the stand was only a bit too low to work at a snug stage on my desk, and that the stand wasn’t notably moveable. I are inclined to take my present stand with me from my residence workplace to iMore’s firm workplaces, and the HiRise Professional’s design doesn’t make it very simple to throw in a bag.
The HiRise Professional can also be very a lot on the top-end of what I’d ever be keen to pay for a stand, nevertheless it’d want to deal with my considerations above beforehand. At this value (or only a tad further) I’d have appreciated to have seen that charging performance constructed into the bottom too, reasonably than having to offer my very own MagSafe puck.
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand: Competitors
There are numerous nice MacBook stands in the marketplace, however the one which I’ve loved utilizing essentially the most not too long ago is the Lululook 360 Rotating Foldable Laptop computer Stand. It’s versatile and extremely adjustable, steady and provides rotation, whereas additionally folding virtually flat for transport. It doesn’t have any nifty charging extras, however will get an important job accomplished nicely.
In the event you’re eager to stay with Twelve South, I a lot choose the Twelve South Curve Flex stand (pictured above), which could be very moveable, sturdy and neatly designed. It’s cheaper than each the Lululook choice and the HiRise Professional, too.
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand: Do you have to purchase it?
Purchase it if…
- You desire a stand that matches Apple’s aesthetics
- You’re seeking to tidy your desktop charger away out of sight
- You allow your MacBook at a hard and fast top and place in your desk
Don’t purchase it if…
- It’s worthwhile to recurrently alter or transfer your MacBook
- You don’t use or want a MagSafe charging connection
- You’d wish to take your stand with you on the go
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook Stand: Verdict
Whilst you can see the thought that’s gone into the Twelve South HiRise Professional, and the need to carry a premium expertise to the standard MacBook stand, the top end result proves only a bit too finicky to get pleasure from utilizing. In the event you work in a manner the place setting this get up as soon as after which forgetting about altering its top is feasible then it’s possible you’ll love the HiRise Professional’s clear aesthetic. But when it’s essential to alter it with any regularity, its top adjustment and lock system are going to trigger complications.
Twelve South HiRise Professional MacBook stand
Backside line: MagSafe compatibility elevates an in any other case awkward MacBook stand.
