THE FAQS AND FACTS ABOUT APPLE

New iPhones and a bigger iPad are on the way, but questions keep pouring in from customers who are in two minds about an upgrade

There is a slight width difference of a couple of millimetres with the new iPhones versus the old ones. Will this affect cases?

Brian: The increases in thickness and width compared to the previous iPhones are minor.

Some case makers, like Speck, have said that the new iPhone 6S will fit inside their iPhone 6 cases. However, it’s unsafe to conclude that all iPhone 6 cases will be able to fit the new iPhones, because hundreds of cases are on the market. Your best bet is to look up the website for your case’s brand and contact its customer support to ask whether the cases will be compatible with the new iPhones.

How does the new iPad Pro differentiate itself from the MacBook Pro?

JD: The iPad Pro and the MacBook Pro can share information by way of iCloud or the USB cable that works with its Lightning port, but they are different devices for different styles of working. (The prices for the two are also different, about $800 — or 29,000 baht — for the low-end iPad Pro with its 12.9-inch screen versus about $1,100 for the starter model MacBook Pro with its 13-inch screen.)

The iPad Pro, while bigger, shinier and more robust than its iPad ancestors, is still a tablet that runs on an A9X processor and Apple’s iOS operating system for mobile gadgets. The iPad Pro also runs apps specifically designed for iOS, but at least there are 850,000 of them to choose from.

If you opt for a model that includes cellular service, you also have an internet connection without having to hunt around for a Wi-Fi network or an Ethernet jack as you have to do to get most laptops online. The light weight and easy connectivity makes the iPad Pro (or any cellular-equipped iPad) a useful tool for computing on the go. If you don’t like typing on glass, you can even turn the iPad Pro into a sort of laptop-on-the-accessories-instalment-plan by buying the optional Smart Keyboard for an additional $169 — which gives you a tactile keyboard and a place to prop up the tablet so you can better see what you’re typing.

The MacBook Pro may be heavier, but it’s intended for more heavy-duty computing, running on Intel dual or quad-core processors. For input, the laptop comes with its own keyboard and track pad, and you can always use a mouse. It has USB, HDMI and Thunderbolt ports for attaching accessories, as well as a built-in slot for Secure Digital memory cards. You get far more onboard storage space — on a MacBook Pro, you can get up to 512 gigabytes on the base models; but you can go up to a full terabyte by paying more. The iPad Pro tops out at 128 gigabytes, minus what iOS takes up.

Speaking of operating systems, the MacBook Pro runs the OS X operating system (not iOS) and all the programs and apps written specifically for it.

Does the iPad Pro have a flash drive or a means to transfer documents from one device to another, as is the case with Microsoft’s Surface Pro?

JD: The iPad Pro does not have the USB connector needed to attach a standard USB drive as you can do with one of Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets to move files between devices. Cloud services that make iOS apps (like Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive, Google Drive, Apple’s own iCloud and so on) are still probably the most convenient way to pass files back and forth between devices if you don’t want to bother with emailing them to yourself.

As with other iPads, the iPad Pro has the Lightning port for charging and transferring some types of data (like iTunes purchases or iWork files) from the computer through the cable that links the Lightning port to the USB port on a Mac or Windows PC. But the iPad Pro also has a new port called the Smart Connector that can transfer power and data to the tablet. Apple’s new Smart Keyboard uses the new port, and other companies like Logitech are building accessories that work with the Smart Connector, so some sort of smart dock with a USB port may be feasible if Apple approves.

Apple does sell accessories for its Lightning port, like the $29 Lightning to USB Camera Adapter, but it’s mainly intended for attaching a camera’s USB cable to import photos and videos. The results have been mixed, but some brave souls have experimented with attaching flash drives to the iPad that way.

Any news on better battery life or increased battery size in the 6S compared to the 6?

Brian: Apple’s reported battery life for both the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus are identical, respectively, to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. But the new phones are slightly thicker than the previous ones and my guess is that is because the phones are more powerful (70% faster than the previous generation) and the camera is also a big improvement. Apple’s website says the iPhone 6S has a battery life that will support talk time of as much as 14 hours on a 3G network, while the iPhone 6S Plus has battery life to support as much as 24 hours on 3G.

Does the new iPad Pro have 3D Touch?

JD: No. Apple’s 3D Touch feature — which senses how much pressure you are applying to the screen and reacts accordingly with different actions and menus — is available only on the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. But Apple has a history of putting features into its iPhones first (think cameras, Siri, Touch ID) and then adding them to future generations of iPads, so maybe 3D Touch will turn up in a later model. Until then, iPad Pro users can vary their touch on the tablet with an optional Apple Pencil.

Will the Apple Pencil work on older iPad models or only the iPad Pro?

JD: The $100 battery-powered Apple Pencil is specifically designed to work with the technology under the hood of the iPad Pro. An Apple representative told my colleague that the new stylus was not compatible with older models. If Apple declines to make its own stylus for its older iPad models, other companies have stepped up already.