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Hands on: Satechi's new 72W charger can charge your MacBook on the go

Satechi's new 72W USB-C PD Car Charger

Are you looking to charge on the go? Satechi's 72W USB-C PD car charger can charge your iPad Pro, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iPhone all from the safety of your car.

Satechi's new 72W USB-C car charger retails for only $30 and it features a USB-C port that supports fast charging including 60W of power delivery to compatible laptops including the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro which is great if you're commuting for work or on a road trip. It's also equipped with a standard USB-A port with 12W of power for charging a second device.

The car adapter comes in two different finishes including silver with white accents and space gray with black accents. Satechi also highlights that the charger itself is equipped with short circuit and over-temperature protection to deliver a safe charging experience, to help prevent overheating and a potential problem while you're driving.

The Satechi 72W USB-C PD Car charger fits in practically any car The Satechi 72W USB-C PD Car charger fits in practically any car

The barrel is made out of solid plastic, and at the top where the the two USB ports sit is constructed out of aluminum with chamfered edges. The charger is a little bit taller or longer than usual car chargers, but we can't envision a scenario where it won't fit between the front seats of your car.

Great for road trips

When on the road for work, I usually carry a 15-inch MacBook Pro or my iPad Pro to handle most of my video or photo editing needs. The Satechi 72W USB-C PD car charger can charge the iPad Pro while in use just fine, the bigger 15-inch though ends up losing charge while I'm hammering on it, since under load the laptop needs a 87w power brick.

When the laptop is shut off or it's idle, it'll be able to charge the laptop just fine, but at a slightly slower rate. However, if you're using a MacBook, MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro or Apple's 2018 iPad Prs, Satechi's car charger will be able to charge those while in use just fine.

It can charge your 15-inch MacBook Pro at a slightly slower rate It can charge your 15-inch MacBook Pro at a slightly slower rate

We'll continue to look at the Satechi 72W USB-C PD car charger to test for durability after long-term use, and will report back.

Where to buy

The Satechi 72W USB-C PD car charger sells for $29.99 at Satechi.com.



6 Comments

coolfactor 20 Years · 2341 comments

If the car's electrical system can handle this, they should just install a standard outlet into every car.  :D

AJ 5 Years · 1 comment

If the car's electrical system can handle this, they should just install a standard outlet into every car.  :D

why would you go through the hassle of having an inverter when you could just use this? its only a 6 amp draw. 

Nickx55 5 Years · 1 comment

Hi can you please link the live wallpaper used in iphone - the dragonballz one its so epic ;thanks 

zroger73 13 Years · 787 comments

If the car's electrical system can handle this, they should just install a standard outlet into every car.  :D

GM has had 100-watt USB-C ports in multiple models for a couple of years now starting with the 2018 GMC Terrain. My mom's lower-end 2019 Equinox has one.

The new Ford Explorer has a USB-C port.

The 2019 Ram 1500 offers USB-C ports.

Several 2019 and 2020 Nissan models have USB-C ports as do the BMW X1 and X2. Mercedes, too.

There are probably other manufacturers on board, but these are a few examples.

bsimpsen 14 Years · 401 comments

If the car's electrical system can handle this, they should just install a standard outlet into every car.  :D

Then you have two converters. The first one converts 12VDC to 120VAC, the second converts 120VAC back to the 5-20V of USB-C. You lose efficiency with each conversion.

While a 120V outlet (and some cars have them) works with a wide range of electronic devices, the computing world is converging on USB-C and it's more efficient to target that directly from the car's 12VDC bus. There's also the temptation to plug in 120V devices that draw more power than any reasonable car outlet might provide. The USB-C specification caps at 100W.