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Belkin Announces New Line of USB-C Cables, USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

Jack Delgado said:
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the issue isn't people being ignorant of other laptops in apple's lineup--and that the real thing going on here is that people would love to have a laptop that features the design/weight of the Macbook with legacy ports?

I've never understood why people are so quick to say this. It's pretty obvious people didn't just forget about the other models.
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To me, this is like people who live in the snow wanting a rear-wheel-drive convertible and then bitching about having to buy a hard top and snow tires for it. "You mean I have to take up space in my garage with a spare set of rims and tires??? Why is the car manufacturer being so asinine???"

I know you WANT a zippy little convertible, but you can hardly complain when the same company makes an AWD sedan in the same color.
 
Jack Delgado said:
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the issue isn't people being ignorant of other laptops in apple's lineup--and that the real thing going on here is that people would love to have a laptop that features the design/weight of the Macbook with legacy ports?
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Umm, have you entertained the thought that a laptop with the features and weight of this laptop cannot afford to have legacy ports? It is probably thinner than the ethernet port itself.
 
Nunyabinez said:
So in other words, you want Apple to design to your specific use case and you are mad that they didn't.

Apple has designed their laptops so that there are clear categories that they fall in; Ultra-light, low power or Desktop replacement, high power. What has made them successful is not confusing buyers by having models that are so similar that they can't decide which to get.

Sorry, but you have a hybrid, non-typical use case. Apple didn't make a laptop for you. They made laptops that the vast majority will find generally acceptable for their needs. That's not a mistake, it's smart business.
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What I'm actually most ashamed of is wasting/taking my time to articulate my thoughts only to get responses that I'm "mad" or that I don't understand how apple's business works.

My original statement was merely pointing out that the other guy was giving a non-solution to folks that were complaining. Read back, I never said I wanted any of these laptops. You are now the second person saying that "Apple didn't make a laptop for me", and I'm starting to get concerned that there are people here who either can't read content without firing off knee-jerk responses or flat-out can't read at all.

I had no plans of even touching this topic, but since you brought it up--I have to say that Apple's laptop strategy is currently confusing to buyers. Right now, you have macbook airs that have better integrated graphics (+) for their lesser-resolution screens (-) but more ports (+) for cheaper price (+) compared to the "Macbook" that is thinner? thinner than air? Okay, and it has a higher-resolution screen (+) for its worse integrated graphics (-) with a single USB-C port. And it starts at $1300. You implied that each laptop fits a clear-cut niche, and it does not. Macbook Air, Macbook Non-Retina, Macbook Retina had arguably a more clear choice-tree.
 
theBB said:
Umm, have you entertained the thought that a laptop with the features and weight of this laptop cannot afford to have legacy ports? It is probably thinner than the ethernet port itself.
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I definitely wasn't talking about an Ethernet port as I am perfectly fine with using a dongle. (Already always do on my MacBook Retina.) But things gets ugly when having to decide between charging OR using Ethernet in my case. Yes, I know the $79 (?) square Apple adapter can give me the possibility of connecting a charger to it and an USB Ethernet dongle, but TWO small USB-C ports (again, perfectly possible in my opinion – I don't even want/need an old normal USB port) would have made the small, but significantly more elegant difference for me to use the first one for charging and the second one for a dongle or an USB-C hard drive or whatever – and not having to connect two big adapters in a row. And again, I'll probably even buy the new MacBook nevertheless and deal with this limitation in favor of the form factor so calm down everybody.
 
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oliversl said:
Hasn´t Apple made a laptop like this in the past? With no Firewire(Unibody)? With limited ports(1st gen MBA)? They rolled back after consumer complain, that is exactly what I hope will happen and that is exactly why you should skip this version.
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I would skip this version. I don't want a 12" screen. I do need more ports. But those are my reasons. If someone who doesn't have my requirements is interested in this MacBook, I say go for it.
 
theBB said:
Umm, have you entertained the thought that a laptop with the features and weight of this laptop cannot afford to have legacy ports? It is probably thinner than the ethernet port itself.
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Suggesting an ethernet port is an exaggeration of the issue, given retina macs and macbook airs don't have them either and haven't for years. A real complaint would be that Apple could have afforded a second USB-C connection on the new Macbook.
 
Jack Delgado said:
Suggesting an ethernet port is an exaggeration of the issue, given retina macs and macbook airs don't have them either and haven't for years. A real complaint would be that Apple could have afforded a second USB-C connection on the new Macbook.
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Amen. As mentioned above, this little, but significant difference would have made the new MacBook perfect (at least for me). There's hope for an additional USB-C port in the second generation, I guess, given the MacBook Air history.
 
Somebody just needs to come up with a decent USB-C dock with a whole bunch of different ports. The single USB-C port is probably going to be fine for most people on the go. The times you need more ports are likely when you formally sit down at a desk either at work or at home where plugging into a dock for charging and expansion is not inconvenient and is certainly better than a bunch of separate USB hubs and adapters.
 
Jack Delgado said:
What I'm actually most ashamed of is wasting/taking my time to articulate my thoughts only to get responses that I'm "mad" or that I don't understand how apple's business works.

My original statement was merely pointing out that the other guy was giving a non-solution to folks that were complaining. Read back, I never said I wanted any of these laptops. You are now the second person saying that "Apple didn't make a laptop for me", and I'm starting to get concerned that there are people here who either can't read content without firing off knee-jerk responses or flat-out can't read at all.

I had no plans of even touching this topic, but since you brought it up--I have to say that Apple's laptop strategy is currently confusing to buyers. Right now, you have macbook airs that have better integrated graphics (+) for their lesser-resolution screens (-) but more ports (+) for cheaper price (+) compared to the "Macbook" that is thinner? thinner than air? Okay, and it has a higher-resolution screen (+) for its worse integrated graphics (-) with a single USB-C port. And it starts at $1300. You implied that each laptop fits a clear-cut niche, and it does not. Macbook Air, Macbook Non-Retina, Macbook Retina had arguably a more clear choice-tree.
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No, but did come to the defense of someone who said exactly that. Your real mistake was getting involved with something that you don't care about. Don't post criticizing someone else if you don't want anyone else to respond. The first guy was foolish to complain that they didn't make what he wants, and you were foolish to take up his cause. If you really don't care, let it go man.

I would like to custom design the perfect laptop for me, but that's not how it works. I'll be buying the Macbook or the MacBook Air after weighing which comes closest to what I need, not cry that they didn't anticipate my specific need.
 
lars666 said:
I'm not sure why you are being so ignorant, but I'd love to buy this very light form factor notebook in a heartbeat as I have to take it with me a freelancer frequently. On the other hand, I am dependent to use Ethernet Internet a lot at the agencys where I am hired to work at their offices (with my own computer). Apart from that, I don't really care about missing USB ports so I am very well a potential buyer for this who realizes what he is getting and what he has to give up in exchange for the form factor.



Couldn't have put it better.
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I would imagine an adapter with the requisite USB-C power port AND an ethernet port will appear very soon. I use an 11' MBA right now and bust out my thunderbolt to to gig-e adapter on the rare occasion that I need it.
 
Jack Delgado said:
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the issue isn't people being ignorant of other laptops in apple's lineup--and that the real thing going on here is that people would love to have a laptop that features the design/weight of the Macbook with legacy ports?
Click to expand...

You can't have one without the other. The single port is a significant contributor to the design and weight.
 
Gasu E. said:
You can't have one without the other. The single port is a significant contributor to the design and weight.
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It isn't - I am very confident that a second USB-C port (again, we are not talking about big old school USB ports, Ethernet, SD slots or whatever) would have been perfectly possible without any compromises to the rest of the machine. And I am even willing to bet that we will see an additional USB-C port included in the 2nd generation of the new MacBook. History repeats itself, see the MacBook Air.
 
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Jack Delgado said:
I had no plans of even touching this topic, but since you brought it up--I have to say that Apple's laptop strategy is currently confusing to buyers. Right now, you have macbook airs that have better integrated graphics (+) for their lesser-resolution screens (-) but more ports (+) for cheaper price (+) compared to the "Macbook" that is thinner? thinner than air? Okay, and it has a higher-resolution screen (+) for its worse integrated graphics (-) with a single USB-C port. And it starts at $1300. You implied that each laptop fits a clear-cut niche, and it does not. Macbook Air, Macbook Non-Retina, Macbook Retina had arguably a more clear choice-tree.
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Have you ever shopped for a Windows laptop? That's how it is, for laptops. There are a lot of design trade-offs in order to fit the form factor(s). It isn't going to be simply "good, better, best."
 
lars666 said:
It isn't - I am very confident that an additional USB-C port (again, we are not talking about big old school USB or even Ethernet ports) would have been perfectly possible without any compromises to the rest of the machine. And I am even willing to bet that we will see it in the 2nd generation of the new MacBook.
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I'll also bet we will see it in the 2nd generation. And I'll bet Apple will integrate more efficient battery technology as well, so that it will "seem" you're not losing anything from the extra power drain or lost battery space in going to the 2nd generation. But that won't prove anything about the first generation design. There's always an engineering trade-off. Apple didn't omit a connector due to Jony's ego, or to shave $12 of cost on a $1300 laptop, or being STOOPID, or some other ridiculous reason.
 
Jack Delgado said:
I had no plans of even touching this topic, but since you brought it up--I have to say that Apple's laptop strategy is currently confusing to buyers. Right now, you have macbook airs that have better integrated graphics (+) for their lesser-resolution screens (-) but more ports (+) for cheaper price (+) compared to the "Macbook" that is thinner? thinner than air? Okay, and it has a higher-resolution screen (+) for its worse integrated graphics (-) with a single USB-C port. And it starts at $1300. You implied that each laptop fits a clear-cut niche, and it does not. Macbook Air, Macbook Non-Retina, Macbook Retina had arguably a more clear choice-tree.
Click to expand...

i feel it's obvious they're killing the air line and you can consider the ones on their site 'legacy' machines now. the Macbook next year will have two usb-c ports (2nd gen bump). the macbook pro will offer 3-4, maybe a thunderbolt, and a fan (residing in housing similar to the current mba's).

i highly doubt they'll continue selling the thinner-than-air macbook and sell mba's for much longer than another cycle. they're consolidating not branching, but they still have all these airs to offload.
 
How about a USB-C hub for when I need to plug in a bunch of stuff at my desk and want to charge?

A hub without a wire, that instead protrudes from the side of the computer would be cleaner.
 
nutmac said:
Holy crap! These cables are priced at Apple-level.
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It has to be $20 retail just to cover the store handing it to you, stocking it on a shelf, and putting a "box" around it. Somebody has to pay to do it once so it can be copied for cheaper.
 
Crazy how in the course of two days USB-C has gone from barely heard of to talked about everywhere with several new shipping products like the new Google Chromebook and these cables. It's a really neat new standard—too bad Thunderbolt never caught on since it's faster and lower-level than any available USB port.
 
lars666 said:
It isn't - I am very confident that a second USB-C port (again, we are not talking about big old school USB ports, Ethernet, SD slots or whatever) would have been perfectly possible without any compromises to the rest of the machine. And I am even willing to bet that we will see an additional USB-C port included in the 2nd generation of the new MacBook. History repeats itself, see the MacBook Air.
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I agree. After seeing the internal pics, one USB-C on BOTH sides wasn't too much to ask. The question I would ask Is how that works for charging... Does only ONE side charge? What happens if TWO chargers plug in? Or TWO video adapters? Would the machine drive BOTH? Just one side? That's an Apple kind of question.
 
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