No headphones-out also means no microphone-in.
That's a pretty big oversight since video chat seems to be the primary use case for most people with a laptop right now. They'll never be as portable or as convenient as a phone, so I wish they would stop chasing those negative design trends.
Granted, $1000 for a premium ultrabook is somehow way cheaper than what companies want to charge for a premium phone right now.
I like that the tried to provide a numpad solution, I like that they at least included a cheap Ethernet dongle, even though I really wish it was built in. I often use a laptop to reduce points of failure in troubleshooting my home network, and I don't want to have to wonder if a dongle is the problem. But, at least RJ-45 Ethernet has the excuse of being a much bigger connector than audio. They could have included something much more functional like a dongle that also has a usb hub with the Ethernet.
I like that this ultrabook found space for pg up/pg dn. I'm venting, because the lack of those buttons and Ethernet are probably the primary reason I didn't buy a zephyrus G14 last weekend. Now I have to examine if I even need to buy a modern laptop at all when my decade-old 15" HP included the entire keyboard, many other ports, and is currently the only DVD player I have access to.
And the answer is yes, I need one today in this hotel room- not in several weeks when I have an address where I can ship an overpriced docking station and the gross tangled USB mess of how you apparently have to buy "the rest of the laptop".