Hey, that Thunderbolt port on your Mac is finally going to get some use. Belkin has officially announced a Thunderbolt-based hub they are calling the “Thunderbolt Express Dock.” Plug in one little Thunderbolt cable to your Mac, and this hub will add three USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and two Thunderbolt ports. Nice! I’m thrilled to see that we’re going to actually be getting some use out of our fancy-schmancy Thunderbolt port.
People purchase MacBook Airs and Ultrabooks for ultimate portability, but constantly plugging-in and unplugging numerous cable-connected peripherals is an annoying and time consuming ordeal,” said Martin Avilla, general manager of Belkin’s Core Business Unit in a released statement.
Clearly taking its cue from the school of Ive, this Belkin device is obviously designed to blend-in next to your Mac and Apple monitor. One might even call it inspired by Apple.
Unfortunately, we don’t have an announced price yet. If it’s $20 or $30 USD, this device is a no brainer for anyone looking for more ports. However, I have a strong feeling that they’re going to take advantage of Thunderbolt’s newness and price it ridiculously high. Let’s hope not, though. You can keep an eye out for the Thunderbolt Express Dock sometime this summer, and expect to hear more about it here as details are released.
Update: Price is $299.
Source: TechCrunch
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Can I connect 2 displays to that hub?
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LikeYou can buy a computer for that much! What a joke!!! You could feed a starving child in Africa for 3 years, send a Haitian to school for two years, fly from NYC to LA... Purchase a 32" LED VIZIO Flat Screen (which has more connectors on it than this device) ----- all for less than $299 each. The price of this device is a joke.
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Like$299 is a fucking joke. Especially since it's a Belkin product... they once, for a brief period of time, made decent quality products that would last some time and even take a bit of abuse. These days I've found you must handle their products with the utmost care, and even then they are susceptible to breaking down.
Regardless, $299 is much too steep. I would have expected to see this priced at most around the $129 point...
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LikeUnfortunately this won't be $30. Just a Tbolt cable costs $50. Being an Air user, I would still buy this if it was $99/$129. The expandability on my lovely little lightweight 13" would be worth the price.
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LikeIt's a hard sell for $99. I'm sure they'll price it horribly, and by 2014 we will get Thunderbolt peripherals for free in cereal boxes.
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