Hacker News Reader

Comment by seanalltogether | Hacker News Reader

So they used to sell 15" and 17" laptops and got rid of the 17", now they're selling 14" and 16", I wonder why?

Isn't part of it that there's basically no bezel on the 14 and 16 models? I know Apple minimized that over the years it really is essentially zero now. I haven't checked but I wouldn't be surprised if the footprint of a 16" MBP is actually smaller than most 15.6" (or are they 15.4"?) non-Apple laptops.

I believe that's the correct answer.

However I still wish they'd be able to get the bezel down to the size of an XPS 13

Doesn't the XPS have the weird webcam position?

My work-issued XPS has a normal webcam position... but I cannot speak to models before or after this one.

I don't think this is an issue with the latest models.

They moved the camera back up top in the 2019 models

At the cost of one of the worst webcam sensors to ship in a laptop. I am fine with a little extra top bezel in exchange for a quality camera.

Low-end non-Apple laptops, yes, but as far as high-end laptops go, Apple was very late to the party in minimizing bezels.

I think since they've managed to minimize the screen bezel, they can fit a 14" screen in the body of an older 13" and a 16" in the body of an older 15"?

Yes, this is the case. (As the owner of a 16" MBP, which replaced a long series of 15" MBPs—with a 17" in there way back when they were still current.)

They're selling the same two size laptops, just with larger screens due to smaller bezels.

Right now I'm looking at a 2019 16" and 2018 15" models, they're pretty much the same size, the 16" model is just a couple mm wider. Probably the same applies for 13"->14".

Reply on news.ycombinator.com