The current case, in every airport I've traversed, was each laptop in a separate bin.

I believe I stumbled through an airport "piloting" this program (BOS) as we had to remove tablets, too. We were not told "everything larger than a phone", we were told "laptops and tablets" — all in separate bins. It took five bins to get through.

"Piloting" new security regulations, to the passenger, appears as if TSA has no idea what their own rules are. Every airport I visit seems to have its own inconsistent idea as to what I need to take off, what needs to go in a bin, etc.

In my experience, the baggage X-ray is the bottleneck at the checkpoint; I don't see how this is going to help.

Also, does this include cameras? Who's the judge as to whether a camera is larger than a cell phone? (And just what I want, to advertise even more loudly the valuables I'm traveling with.)