I remember a time when laptops were supposed to be exactly what they suggest "lap" top, a computer that you can lug around easily and keep it in your lap while you work. Anything more than a 13 inch imo doesn't really adhere to those ideas. If I wanted a 16 inch screen, I'd use a desktop, or external monitors. But maybe that's just me.
Kind of a useless comment. Obviously there's personal preference. You switch from notebook PC to desktop/external monitors at 13". Others go from tablet to notebook to desktop. Etc. Sounds like something for your blog.
Pretty obvious that there's a market for all of these considering that Apple has high-end devices targeting each segment. Pretty obvious there is utility along the spectrum for all individuals.
I've consistently gotten the largest Mac laptop available over the last 15 years. That's been 17", 15", and 16", and it's a very comfortable size on my lap. (It sometimes gets a little cramped when a large cat wants to share my lap with it, but I can usually manage.)
Naturally, this is going to vary depending on your physical size. A person who's small and slight of build isn't going to be as easily able to use a 16" laptop as me.
The ergonomics of this also depends on the laptop itself. The large Macs are sort of uncommonly good at being used on the lap as a result of lacking the numpad and centering the keyboard/trackpad.
My experience with trying to use my 15 inch Dell w/numpad on my lap is a bit more miserable, because I either have to position it off-center and hanging off my right leg, or type with my hands off-center, which becomes really uncomfortable quickly.
I am tiny, though, so perhaps this would be less annoying to someone with bigger legs where it wouldn't be teetering off constantly.
I think that kind of depends on how big your lap is - I can work on 15" MacBook Pro just fine, while sitting crosslegged.
And of course also how big the laptop is with regards to screen size. For example, modern Dell XPS 13 has 13.4" screen but is narrower than 12" Thinkpads of old.
And there's a big jump from 16" screen in a MacBook to "desktop monitor" which in modern office probably would be 27" 4k display.
