Satechi Launches 72W USB-C Car Charger and MFi-Certified USB-C to Lightning Cable

[MacRumors]

Satechi today announced a new 72W USB-C Car Charger and an Apple MFi-Certified USB-C to Lightning cable. The company said that with Power Delivery technology and USB-C, the 72W Car Charger supports quick charging of modern iPhones.

This means that you can get about 50 percent of charge on an iPhone 8 or later device in 30 minutes. Satechi's new car charger also has a regular USB-A port, so you can charge two devices at once. The USB-C port delivers fast charging up to 60W and the USB-A port delivers regular charging up to 12W.

You can buy the 72W USB-C Car Charger in Silver or Space Gray for $29.99, and the USB-C to Lightning Cable for $24.99. The cable features a length of six feet and a braided nylon construction to avoid tangles.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Satechi. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Article Link: Satechi Launches 72W USB-C Car Charger and MFi-Certified USB-C to Lightning Cable

 

[dvhoosier]

anyone have a 12V charger for a 15" MBP?

 

[d5aqoëp]

Has anyone done studies on how this can negatively affect car battery? I had Aukey car charger USB-PD 15W. My new car battery went off within 2 months. VW were terrible and kept saying that my car charger was to blame.

 

[RumorConsumer]

anyone have a 12V charger for a 15" MBP?

Right? Does this not charge a MBP??

 

[xanduxandu]

72W and such small form factor, I don’t think is possible

 

[33man]

72W and such small form factor, I don’t think is possible

Time to remember power formula calculation

P=U*I
72W=12V*I

I = 72/12 = 6 Amps...

Seriously? 6 amps this plastic will melt.

My two cents but I thing there is 72 W for half a second, so they can get validated product name/description but mostly will use max 0.5 amp
[doublepost=1565281057][/doublepost]

Time to remember power formula calculation

P=U*I
72W=12V*I

I = 72/12 = 6 Amps...

Seriously? 6 amps this plastic will melt.

My two cents but I thing there is 72 W for half a second, so they can get validated product name/description but mostly will use max 0.5 amp

Haha it's 60 + 12

 

[Braderunner]

Has anyone done studies on how this can negatively affect car battery? I had Aukey car charger USB-PD 15W. My new car battery went off within 2 months. VW were terrible and kept saying that my car charger was to blame.

That is a lot of power to be drawing from your car's electric system. I wouldn't risk it. I know that some people will say that they don't have a problem, but, that's their car. I wouldn't do it to mine.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Has anyone done studies on how this can negatively affect car battery? I had Aukey car charger USB-PD 15W. My new car battery went off within 2 months. VW were terrible and kept saying that my car charger was to blame.

Are you charging while your car is off? I think someone is feeding you a line. Your alternator tends to put out about 14V unless you are constantly at low idle (and even then enough voltage not to matter for these purposes) and probably 85 amps or so (maybe less on your specific car but again not enough to matter for these purposes). So 14v * 85a = 1190w, 15w of draw is meaningless.

Even if the vehicle is off, unless you were routinely drawing the battery very low or killing it (which would be very unlikely even at max 15w draw of that charger) it shouldn't have affected battery life. If the car was running it should never have hit the battery at all.

edit to add: for comparison your starter motor probably draws hundreds of amps when you start your car (run continuously those motors are probably around 1kw) and that's pure battery. Granted much shorter period but its disingenuous for the dealer to be concerned about your 15w draw (only while a device is connected and needing full speed charging) vs 1kw plus of starter motor draw. It doesn't add up.

edit to add more: you should ask them if they are concerned about the likely 50w+ car stereo (although I won't go into all the ways that car stereo power is mis-rated) installed by the factory

 

[RevTEG]

Has anyone done studies on how this can negatively affect car battery? I had Aukey car charger USB-PD 15W. My new car battery went off within 2 months. VW were terrible and kept saying that my car charger was to blame.

I’m certainly not a battery expert but if you drive your car on a regular basis then you shouldn’t have any issues. The alternator recharged the car battery really fast. If driven regularly then the car charger shouldn’t have enough time to negatively harm your battery.

I once had a car charger that had a little green light that would stay on to show it was getting power. I worked out of the country for four months and it ran my battery down. A simple jump and short drive got the battery back up to normally. That wouldn’t have been an issue if I had been driving my vehicle.

 

[djbuddha]

72W and such small form factor, I don’t think is possible

Not safely anyway

 

[iPrabhu]

Am I the one noticing the promo pic (3rd one) showing a Macbook is being charged with an USB-to-lighting cable?

 

[sonamo]

Am I the one noticing the promo pic (3rd one) showing a Macbook is being charged with an USB-to-lighting cable?

Pretty sure that the USB-C port on the charger is going to the USB-C port on the laptop, and the USB Type A port on the charger is going to the lightning port on the phone. This is totally viable considering the ports on the charger and the braided cable they are selling.

 

[Return Zero]

Seriously? 6 amps this plastic will melt.

The amperage has nothing to do with the plastic and everything to do with conductor size. If this thing has internal wires/buses of proper size and material, 6 amps won't cause a significant temperature rise. I regularly work with conductors about the same diameter as my little finger that carry over 12,000 volts at over 150 amps yet remain within 5 degrees of ambient temperature.

 

[LogicalApex]

That is a lot of power to be drawing from your car's electric system. I wouldn't risk it. I know that some people will say that they don't have a problem, but, that's their car. I wouldn't do it to mine.

Why so? As long as you're within the wattage limits in the car manual I don't see what harm could be caused by a 60W draw.

I have a very nice inverter that I use now to routinely keep my MBP charged while driving around and it works flawlessly. And since I'm using the MBP wall charger it can draw up to 87W.

I'll keep this in mind though as I might be tempted to try it out just to save space.

 

[HappyIntro]

The amperage has nothing to do with the plastic and everything to do with conductor size. If this thing has internal wires/buses of proper size and material, 6 amps won't cause a significant temperature rise. I regularly work with conductors about the same diameter as my little finger that carry over 12,000 volts at over 150 amps yet remain within 5 degrees of ambient temperature.

Wow, that is really impressive. Is the conductor copper, or something else?

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Talk of a phone charger harming your car is just silly. The typical cigarette lighter plug has a 30 or 40 amp fuse on it. If you do the math and lowball it at only 12 volts, you get this: 12v • 30a = 360 watts. Your phone charger isn't anywhere close to that, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[4487549]

The amperage has nothing to do with the plastic and everything to do with conductor size. If this thing has internal wires/buses of proper size and material, 6 amps won't cause a significant temperature rise. I regularly work with conductors about the same diameter as my little finger that carry over 12,000 volts at over 150 amps yet remain within 5 degrees of ambient temperature.

What in the world are you working with that's over 480V but only 150A?
[doublepost=1565299293][/doublepost]

Time to remember power formula calculation

P=U*I
72W=12V*I

I = 72/12 = 6 Amps...

Seriously? 6 amps this plastic will melt.

6A? That's a jigsaw!!! There's not a chance in hell this thing works as advertised.

 

[pjny]

I have the Anker 42w cig charger

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H4M4N5V/

It seems to charge my 2019 Macbook 13" and keeps it topped up at 100%. I did notice that when I used my inverter and 60w macbook ac charger the tip of the inverter plug that attached to cig lighter was really hot. I think that the inverter is probably worse for battery since it converters dc to ac charger to dc whereas usb c just skips the middle part.

is charging at lower amp bad for laptop?

anker specs:

Input: 12V / 24V==5A;

USB C Output: 5V==3A / 9V==3A / 15V==2A / 20V==1.5A;

USB A Output: 5V==2.4A Max;

 

[x-evil-x]

I wonder how hot thing things makes the wiring around it.
i like the cable I might pick it up for the Apple usb c chargers

 

[Return Zero]

Wow, that is really impressive. Is the conductor copper, or something else?

Yep, just regular stranded copper, insulated and shielded. In our case it's what's considered "medium voltage" cabling, used in underground distribution.
[doublepost=1565352762][/doublepost]

What in the world are you working with that's over 480V but only 150A?

It's "medium voltage" power distribution. Most of our circuits carry well under 100A but can power many large buildings with that amount. At 12kV 3-phase, 100A is a ton of power.

 

[Artric76]

Why so? As long as you're within the wattage limits in the car manual I don't see what harm could be caused by a 60W draw.

I have a very nice inverter that I use now to routinely keep my MBP charged while driving around and it works flawlessly. And since I'm using the MBP wall charger it can draw up to 87W.

I'll keep this in mind though as I might be tempted to try it out just to save space.

It would be a lot more efficient as well... You wouldn't be going from DC current in your car to AC from the inverter just to be changed back to DC in your power brick.

 

[firestarter]

> The company said that with Power Delivery technology and USB-C, the 72W Car Charger supports quick charging of modern iPhones.

Just a reminder that iPhones don't charge at a rate grater than 18W

iPads max out at 35-45W

So it's a nice device if you've got a laptop, but OTT for phones.

 

[4487549]

Yep, just regular stranded copper, insulated and shielded. In our case it's what's considered "medium voltage" cabling, used in underground distribution.
[doublepost=1565352762][/doublepost]

It's "medium voltage" power distribution. Most of our circuits carry well under 100A but can power many large buildings with that amount. At 12kV 3-phase, 100A is a ton of power.

Yeah it is!