Twelve South Introduces USB-C Wall Chargers With 'Find My' Support

[victorvictoria]

Waste of money. You can buy a Leviton in-wall unit with power delivery and two USB-C ports and two 110V AC sockets for less, $26.21 for the 30W version, $65.77 for the 60W version. And you'll never lose track of it! Every hotel we've visited in the last 5 years has USB outlets, so all you need are the appropriate cable adapters.

 

[msackey]

I think Twelve South has lost their mind. They need to put Find My on their minds to find it.

Lol

 

[Macaholic868]

I actually quite like the idea! Especially being able to find them without having them plugged in.

Between our home, our cars and our two boats my wife and I are always leaving chargers someplace and even though she’s got an iPhone 13 she uses USB-C chargers with lightning to USB-C cables.

 

[erihp]

I actually quite like the idea! Especially being able to find them without having them plugged in.

Between our home, our cars and our two boats my wife and I are always leaving chargers someplace and even though she’s got an iPhone 13 she uses USB-C chargers with lightning to USB-C cables.

cant you just glue a $5 findmy tag to an existing charger?

or just buying enough chargers for each location such that you dont even need to move them?

buying this isnt the way.

 

[Macaholic868]

cant you just glue a $5 findmy tag to an existing charger?

or just buying enough chargers for each location such that you dont even need to move them?

buying this isnt the way.

I wasn’t aware they had $5.00 find my tags. Could you point me in that direction with a link if you know of any that aren’t just inexpensive but that last for a bit? I’d pay more than $5 if they last for a year and work well.

 

[erihp]

I wasn’t aware they had $5.00 find my tags. Could you point me in that direction with a link if you know of any that aren’t just inexpensive but that last for a bit? I’d pay more than $5 if they last for a year and work well.

Theres some pretty good threads covering different models over in the airtags forum section. tons of options!

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/find-my-compatible-tags.2411978/

 

[frownface]

"honey, where'd i leave my charger??"

"It's plugged into the wall connected to your phone"

 

[erihp]

"honey, where'd i leave my charger??"

"It's plugged into the wall connected to your phone"

"yeah but im holding my phone!!!"

 

[return2sendai]

I have dozens of chargers I’ve found plugged into power points in coffee shops when I’ve tried to plug in my own. Never need to buy another charger. Also left a few by accident myself. This must be happening everywhere, like a global power-sharing scheme!

 

[LogicalApex]

To get the obvious out of the way: so you can still find them when they aren't plugged in to the wall!

...but I guess you meant "why can't they use a rechargeable battery for that" - which is a reasonable question but I suspect that a regular coin-cell lithium battery is cheaper and more efficient than a similarly-sized rechargeable + the requisite charging gubbins. I've got some timer switches that I only use during the winter that are rechargeable and they lose their charge after a few months of being unplugged. Plus, the target market probably already have airtags and have a stock of the cells.

Not very green though - but the green thing to do is not buy so much of this junk.

The coin cell battery is more green in that it vastly extends the useful lifespan of this device.

But absolutely, reduce consumption is the most environmentally friendly path.

 

[erihp]

I have dozens of chargers I’ve found plugged into power points in coffee shops when I’ve tried to plug in my own. Never need to buy another charger.

Careful, someones gonna show up at your house, looking for their airtagged charger.

Dozens? Surely only possible if you work at a coffee shop.

 

[return2sendai]

Careful, someones gonna show up at your house, looking for their airtagged charger.

Dozens? Surely only possible if you work at a coffee shop.

I work in several coffee shops. They are my office.

 

[Infinitewisdom]

Watching people in this comment section have no clue what this product is for is amazing! Sometimes feels like the IQ of readers here is way too low. It is not for tracking your charger in your mansion or keeping track of your walls.

This is for a travel bag, if you were planning to put an AirTag in your bag (as many do) this solves that problem without having to buy a second device.

Is that really the use case for these? Most people already have AirTags for that don't they?

 

[erihp]

Is that really the use case for these? Most people already have AirTags for that don't they?

yes. this product is silly. the cheap findmy devices are -so cheap- you can stash multiple tags and not care to lose them even.

it could be a nightmare if Apple hadnt put in place anti-stalking features though. a 'normal' person wouldnt consider the possibility a charger was also a tracking device.

 

[bkaus]

We installed outlets with built-in USB ports. Now we have a box of chargers we never use!

We do too. But now cannot ever find the right cable…

 

[bkaus]

The answer to this is in the same paragraph as the one that says it has a battery.

A medium/large capacitor could run an AirTag and recharge anytime it’s plugged in.

 

[erihp]

We do too. But now cannot ever find the right cable…

introducing, FindMy integrated cAbLeZ!!1

 

[erihp]

A medium/large capacitor could run an AirTag and recharge anytime it’s plugged in.

what if you need for it to work for a month where it has no power or person to plug it in??

A battery solves this in an extremely low cost way and allows the airtag to work for over a year

 

[macchelsea]

So much larger (and probably heavier) and at least 2 to 3 times more expensive than a normal charger. Why would I bother getting this one?

 

[svish]

Not sure how many will be buying this. Price is also high.

 

[theluggage]

This is for a travel bag, if you were planning to put an AirTag in your bag (as many do) this solves that problem without having to buy a second device.

Er... the point of having an Airtag in a bag is that the Airtag stays in the bag. The point of having a charger in a bag is so that you can take it out and use it. Combining the two makes no sense.

The coin cell battery is more green in that it vastly extends the useful lifespan of this device.

If manufacturers wanted to vastly expand the useful lifetime of the device they could always put in a battery that was replaceable and rechargeable...

A medium/large capacitor could run an AirTag and recharge anytime it’s plugged in.

...but maybe not for as long as a coin cell will last between charges or at a comparable price.

I think it all comes down to those lithium coin cells winning the cost/longevity/size race for this sort of application.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

Watching people in this comment section have no clue what this product is for is amazing! Sometimes feels like the IQ of readers here is way too low. It is not for tracking your charger in your mansion or keeping track of your walls.

This is for a travel bag, if you were planning to put an AirTag in your bag (as many do) this solves that problem without having to buy a second device.

Did you watch the you tube video in the original post? Seems like even the manufacturer is targeting us low IQ people.

I do agree its primary function should be for travel bags though.

 

[solardudesf]

And apparently it does not have the U1 chip so no precision finding?

 

[bkaus]

So much larger (and probably heavier) and at least 2 to 3 times more expensive than a normal charger. Why would I bother getting this one?

I would have thought same. Then my kid went to college.

 

[ipoddin]

We installed outlets with built-in USB ports. Now we have a box of chargers we never use!

Exactly. This is such an easy upgrade.