This is a bit disingenuous. The 2013 MacBook Pro (a single decade ago) was the first mainstream device with a resolution above 1080p and with scaling people effectively still had a 1440x900 screen anyway. 1280x800 was common at the time for 13" devices. High DPI has really only taken off in the last 5 years.
edit: fixed info regarding scaling
That MacBook was the first device to offer High DPI in that package (I wouldn't be surprised if there was some obscure Sony laptop on par with that, but doesn't matter). But weirdly enough CRT at that time had decent resolution for the distance they were supposed to be viewed at. I remember Iiyama having 1600+ px screens for sub 20" CRTs, at expensive but manageable prices (something around 500+?)
We'd accept many compromizes for laptops anyway, so a lower resolution/worst refresh rate to have LCD panels instead was part of the package.