This “every single pixel” stuff reminds me of how many people will work at a tube of toothpaste for a minute just to squeeze out one more drop. It’s not really about getting more toothpaste, because you could easily just buy more. It’s also not really about getting the most toothpaste for your money, because you’re likely not also focusing on cheap tubes, bulk buys, etc. It’s certainly not about getting the most toothpaste for your time. It’s loss aversion: because you believe you should have this thing, you’re willing to accept a much higher cost to obtain it. Similarly, people doing this “every single pixel” thing aren’t necessarily also getting the biggest screens or the thinnest bezels, it’s about it feeling “wrong” to not use these particular pixels.

The problem goes away if you mentally reframe: you don’t have a 16.1″ screen with a piece missing, you have a 15.6″-ish screen, the same size as before the notch, and also a horizontal strip above it that’s only good for sensors, the menu bar, and extended backgrounds.