Aside from the potential performance letdown, I'm almost not believing they really moved the Original Kettle's lid hook 90 degrees from the handle orientation? Holding the lid vertically, as when hooking onto the side of the bowl, damn near demands a vertical handle. If it's horizontal you'd need to grasp the end of the lid, wouldn't you, to balance?
Hell, the lid damper always served as a visual for knowing how close you were with the hook you couldn't see. On a 22, just "above" the damper and on an older 26, just "below" it.
... orienting the [2015] handle this way guarantees that neither the vent nor the therm get stuck in the lid bale.
I can see why that would be fine for MasterTouch and Performer, but didn't realize it was an issue in the first place. I think Weber missed the boat by not simply putting lid damper and thermometer on the same end of the lid, inline with the handle. (Meaning, lid damper and thermometer still offset from each other but on the same end of the lid, "ahead" of the handle pointing to them,)
Doing that would reinforce both exhaust and temp readings work better on the indirect side because oh-by-the-way you'll probably be wanting to cook indirect and hey, what's all this "indirect" about ... I'm a firm believer in educating the customer. Makes them insanely loyal and satisfied and that's dollars to stockholders. I'm getting' agitated here.