Originally Posted by skywardhunter

Basically the older IFE versions have the boxes while the newest ones don't. I'm not sure at which version they disappear though I suspect it's the non-latest ICE Digital Widescreen (with the charcoal/black frame on the screen and controller with physical buttons vs the latest with the silver frame). The oldest IFE which is the non-digital widescreen in the smaller 4:3 aspect ratio definitely has the boxes. EK doesn't fly just one generation of aircraft to a certain city except for very specific circumstances (i.e. newest F to GVA), so it's pretty much impossible to predict. You can squeeze one leg down the side between the seat ahead and the wall of the cabin and the other to the left of the box. Ironically the middle seat is unobstructed.

If you look on FlightRadar for the last weeks' registrations and then go into the EK Fleet Guide here on FT (search google for "site:flyertalk.com A6-XXX" where XXX is the reg) it'll tell you the ICE version (and also if there's WiFi)