Apple's newest iPhone packs more in less space

Serving up more features in smaller packages was the major theme at Apple's media event Monday, as the company ushered in a downsized four-inch iPhone SE and a refreshed 9.7 inch iPad Air called the iPad Pro - with both products borrowing tricks from their bigger sisters.

Unlike Samsung, which sells a ton of big-screen "phablet" phones, Apple has seen its 6 series iPhone sales be far stronger in the smaller-screened, 4.7-inch 6S model than in the 5.5-inch 6S Plus.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners suggests the smaller iPhone 6S made up 48 percent of all U.S. iPhone sales during Apple's fiscal first quarter this year, while the iPhone 6S Plus accounted for 19 percent.

So if the customer base prefers petite, maybe it will buy into iPhone SE's even smaller dimensions and upscale features, including the advanced A9 processor and 12-megapixel rear camera of the 6S.

If you're a big picture-taker, this will really improve your game. You might never need another camera again.

SE also boasts hand-me-downs including a Touch ID fingerprint sensor and NFC (near field communications) connectivity for use with Apple Pay. But the newbie's screen won't do those 6S "3D Touch" tricks if you keep pressing down on it.

Pricing will be a little lower, too, though hardly rock-bottom, to compete better with the Chinese Android smartphone upstarts (Huawei, Xiaomi) now eating Apple's and Samsung's lunch in developing countries.

An SE will start for $399 or about $17 a month as a line item on a two-year payment plan, the options consumers are now getting from most providers when they opt for a phone upgrade.

Padding out the line. Drawing from the 12.9-inch iPad Pro model introduced last year, the new 9.7-inch tablet also comes with an Apple Pencil stylus - beloved by artists - and side connector for attaching a keyboard case, making it more business-friendly, like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 transformable that has been winning renewed support for Windows OS.

Also like the big iPad Pro, the newbie hosts four speakers for real stereo sound when in either horizontal or vertical configuration. It offers Siri voice control, and has a faster processor and a larger internal storage capacity - maxing out at 256GB, a first for any iPad - but you must pay $899 for the top model. (The 32GB version is $599, the 128GB model is $749. All will be in stores March 31.)

The 9.7-inch Pro surpasses its close relation with a 12-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel camera for FaceTime calls (up from 8/1.2Mp). The new model boasts a significantly improved screen that goes brighter ("500 nits") and has wider color gamut - akin to the newest big screen TVs.

Also, the iPad Pro screen makes automatic adjustments of color relative to ambient light ("True Tone display") and has a "night shift" mode that reduces blue wavelengths to ready you for sleeping (a feature seen in Kindle Fires, too).

While still lacking Surface Pro 4 niceties such as a slot for a microSD memory card and a USB 3.0 input, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro lets users plug in an extra-cost SD card reader or USB camera adapter.

On the Apple Watch front, the big news was a $50 price cut to $299 for the starter Sport model, plus more band colors and new woven bands. Gee whiz.

And product owners can benefit from the latest software update available today - iOS 9.3.

Early on in the hype fest, Apple CEO Tim Cook touted the maker's 40th birthday on April 1, introduced a new "CareKit" program to help consumers manage their health care, and hailed Apple's commitment to 100 percent renewable energy operations, already reached in the United States and China.

Cook also reiterated Apple's commitment to protecting "your data and privacy" against governmental pressures to crack the security codes, a stance he said has been met by an "outpouring of support" from customers: "We will not shrink from our responsibility."

takiffj@phillynews.com

215-854-5960 @JTakiff