USB wall chargers do one thing: they plug into a wall outlet and give you a USB slot to charge your gadgets. Whether they’re simple 5V USB chargers or high-voltage USB-C fast chargers, you can expect your USB wall charger to be little more than a boring box. That’s why the Shargeek Retro 35 Wall Charger offers such a refreshing take on the category.
A 35W fast charger, the device lets you charge phones, tablets, and laptops via a USB connection much like similar products. Except, this plug is clad in the shape of an Apple Macintosh PC from 1984, complete with a built-in display showing the classic Happy Mac icon.
The Shargeek Retro 35 Wall Charger is an erstwhile standard 35W GaN fast charger that you can plug into any wall outlet or power strip to give you a USB-C slot for charging your roster of modern USB-C devices. Instead of a non-descript enclosure like typical charging plugs, it’s styled in the unmistakable likeness of the original Apple Macintosh straight out of the 80s, making it look a heck of a lot more interesting than your typical chargers. It recreates all the main elements of the original MacOS PC, from the boxy shape and the floppy drive out front to the bottom side vents and the front display.
The front display is, obviously, a highlight here, as it comes printed with the Happy Mac icon from the original machine, which popped up each time you booted up the computer. Even better, it’s fitted with backlighting, which glows each time you plug it into an outlet, making the whole thing look like a miniature Macintosh running its bootup sequence. Suffice to say, this thing is a lot more fun to look at compared to your typical GaN chargers.
The Shargeek Retro 35 Wall Charger’s display isn’t just for show, as it also changes color to serve as a status indicator. It can change from white (not charging anything), yellow (using up 0.3W to 12W), blue (13W to 20W), and green (21W to 35W). It supports a variety of USB-C charging protocols, including PPS, PD 3.0, QC 3.0, AFC, Apple 2.4A, and PE 2.0, making it compatible with most USB-C smartphones, tablets, and laptops out there today, along with gadgets like the Nintendo Switch, Apple AirPods, Apple Watch, and more. The device comes with all the safety protections found in modern charging bricks, ensuring it will prevent overheating, short circuits, over-current, and other sorts of charging issues.
The charger comes with foldable prongs, so you can tuck them in during transport, making it possible to stash this in jacket pockets and backpack pouches without having those plugs sticking out and making things uncomfortable. It also comes with a selection of stickers that you can put on top of the display, each of which depicts a familiar element from Mac computers of old, such as that HELLO typography, Apple’s old “Think Different” slogan, and various MacOS icons that should be familiar to PC users from that period.
The Shargeek Retro 35 Wall Charger is available now.
