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Comment by jseliger | Hacker News Reader

Are people really demanding thinner laptops? Who is demanding that a laptop or phone be thinner?

Yes. Anyone who carries them around demands thinner, where possible. I could have bought a MBP and am typing this on a MBA. The latter has various advantages but the latter is fast enough and also lighter. PG uses (used?) 11" MBAs. https://twitter.com/paulg/status/740739637572997120?lang=en

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I carry my laptop everywhere, and whenever there is a trade-off I demand performance and quality over thin/light.

I use my machine to do work. Better performance makes we work better and faster. It's my bread and butter. Less weight... is a slight convenience while commuting, I guess?

When you travel, especially internationally where you're probably carrying the laptop in a hand bag then the extra weight starts to be an annoyance. A lot of walking around and 0.5kg savings makes a difference.

I do a LOT of traveling, as I’m a consultant. I fly 2-3 times a month, often internationally. Seriously it is not a concern for me.

Good for you. You are not everyone. Some people have sore shoulders.

Thinner doesn't necessarily mean much lighter though.

If weight is an issue then swapping aluminium for plastic would be more effective. But then it would be function over form.

Well aluminum also has the nice property that it's a good thermal conductor, it definitely has functional advantages over plastic. It also has a good specific heat capacity, so as well as conducting away heat via the chassis, it can allow longer bursts of high power usage before temperature limits are reached.

I carry two. And power leads. And clothes for upto 2 weeks (three at a push). And a 10 port mikrotik, a few cat 6 cables of various lengths, a supple of lc-xx sm fibres and an sfp. Sometimes a pi or two as well.

0.5kg makes a significant difference when you're rock climbing because you have to pull that weight up vertically with you. If 0.5kb makes a significant difference while walking around, I suggest that you join a gym instead of buying thinner MacBook.

Marginal gains. A lighter bag, a lighter laptop, less clutter in such bag, can add up. If you're carrying things in a backpack, you can carry heavy loads without an issue, except then in hot buildings you end up with a sweaty back.

If you put it in a single strap bag like a satchel then it can dig into your shoulder after a few hours. If you use a briefcase then you have to mount it somewhere or continually have one hand occupied.

I was so disappointed when they cancelled the little Macbook this year - just a tiny bump in specs, and upgrade the USB-C to TB3 and I would have jumped. That was a nicely sized machine.

I have three machines

1) desktop (Ubuntu), main daily use at home 2) laptop (t410s/Ubuntu). For work in apps rooms. Really falling to bits now, but still using it due to things like Ethernet port. The keyboard is now worse than the air so looking how beast to replace it 3) MacBook Air, for portable use

Right tool for the right job. If I want a portable I’ll go for a small air. If I want a useful machine I’ll go for something larger and heavier, but with the ports I need

the most environmentally friendly thing you could do with that t410s is to replace the keyboard with a new one instead of replacing the laptop with a new one. This of course assumes that everything else is fine and only the keyboard is falling to bits.

Screen hinge is as well

On thinkpads those can be tightened pretty easily.

Well, they could be tightened back when I carried a few around.

I am (perhaps incorrectly) assuming that your hinges are loose and not actually breaking apart.

Totally gone - the long thin bits are normally connected by two robots, it’s just one. This means the plastic case is separated. While I can just about close the lid by pushing from tr base of the screen, it’s really flakey.

The cpu fan doesn’t work either.

I'm "Anyone who carries them around" and I don't demand thinner. I don't mind the weight or size as long as it has the power and usability I need. I still use a "fatty" 13" MBP from 2012 for travel for this reason - great keyboard, lots of ports (no dongles needed), and durable.

And that's what the MBA is for. The MBP should remain thicker to have more ports and a better keyboard for people that want such things.

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