[Tabular-Iceberg]

I’m guessing “hard drive” in common usage still refers to the big box under the desk. In that sense a laptop does not have a hard drive.

[smolder]

It pains me that you could be right about their reasoning for word choice. It's one of those things where the misconception rivals the truth, not too unlike sherbet being pronounced sherbert, using "literally" for emphasis, or saying "I could care less".