Ask TUAW: Wait, is this a leap year? Edition

Just to clear that up, no there is no February 29 this year, but 2012 is another story. Welcome to this week's edition of Ask TUAW -- everyone's favorite Mac and iOS Q&A and advice column. We got a few interesting queries from last week's post, but this is going to get mighty boring without your questions!

Here's what we need you to do: go to the comments of this post, think of those niggling questions that keep you awake at night thinking about your Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone or AppleTV and fire away. You can also email your questions directly to ask [at] tuaw.com.

So, with that out of the way, on to the questions, including a followup from last week!

In the previous edition, TeJay wanted to hook up multiple monitors to his MacBook. We offered a third-party solution to his problem, but it looks like Apple may have just introduced a much better option for owners of the latest 15" and 17" MacBook Pro's. The new Thunderbolt port offers daisy-chaining of up to six devices, including two high-resolution displays, according to the Australian Apple website. The 13" MacBook Pro, with its weaksauce Intel integrated graphics card can't handle two external monitors, however. Curiously, the US website doesn't mention this feature. Perhaps it only works down under?

Now, queries!

Generik wonders:

Instead of the rumored improved battery life, the new 13" MacBook Pro has 3 hours less battery life than the 2010 model it replaces, which was rated for 10 hours of battery performance. What's going on here?

With the launch of the new MacBook Airs last fall, Apple changed the way it tests battery life to make it more accurate, calling it the "wireless web" test. At the time, Steve Jobs said:

"The PC industry's battery tests sometimes don't reflect real world results, and we're moving toward some more stringent tests that we think will get us much closer to real world results on battery tests. Even using these more stringent tests, we're getting 7 hours of wireless web battery life [in the 13" MacBook Air]. Our previous Macbook Air, using the old, more liberal test, got only 5 hours. We think it's a double improvement, not only from 5 to 7 hours, but with more realistic testing."

Now, to your question, the prior MacBook Pro quoted 10 hours of battery life, under the old "under ideal conditions" standard. The new machine, and indeed across the MacBook Pro line, provides 7 hours of legitimate battery life. Now, your mileage may vary depending if you are playing games, or editing video in Final Cut Pro, but for general office tasks, connected to Wi-Fi, you can reasonably expect 7 hours from all of the new MacBook Pros.

They also include the clever "adaptive charging" battery technology that Apple rolled out a few years ago, giving users up to 1,000 charge cycles and a 5-year lifespan. With older batteries, you could only expect 300 cycles and a 3-year lifespan. This is also why Apple got rid of easily replaceable batteries in the unibody MacBook Pros. Now, Apple claims it could increase battery capacity by 30 percent. Here's a great promotional video from a few years ago that goes into great detail about Apple's latest battery technology.

Peter asks:

While I love all things Apple, I'm having a hard time with the Mac App Store. Or maybe I'm just confused. When I purchase things through iTunes, I use my MobileMe account (username@me.com) and I have a bankroll there. I want to use that money to buy things for my Mac using the Mac App Store.

I was thinking that my Apple ID is my MobileMe account. Am I wrong? I used have a mac.com account, but when MobileMe came along it got converted to @me.com. The Mac App Store keeps insisting I log in with @mac.com, but I don't have money stashed there.

I'd just like to have an account with Apple that I can put money into via gift cards (or, better, other people can put money into) and buy whatever the heck I want.

Perhaps you could clear up the differences in Apple IDs, vs. MobileMe, vs. iTunes account, etc.

Alrighty! I can definitely see your confusion, and let's see if we can clear some things up.

An Apple ID can be used to log into a variety of Apple services. It can be used in the iTunes Store, to order things from the Apple Store Online, to make reservations at Apple Retail Stores and at Apple.com/support. If you use Google's online services, the Apple ID is the equivalent of a Google Account.

In general, your Apple ID will be an email address. It may not be your current email address, but probably an email address you had at some point. This is because your email address and Apple ID are actually separate. In fact, depending on how you sign up for an Apple ID, it doesn't have to be an email address at all. It is also quite easy to sign up for multiple Apple IDs, especially if you have a MobileMe account.

In general, you should have one Apple ID that you use for logging in to the iTunes Store, iOS/Mac App Store and Apple Retail/Online Stores -- just to keep things straight. You can go to appleid.apple.com to manage your existing account, and even find out if you have other accounts by entering in a bunch of different information. Even more confusing is that (even if you have an existing Apple ID) if you purchased MobileMe, that gave you a second Apple ID. Yikes.

In your case, you had an Apple ID of "yourname@mac.com" and an email address of "yourname@mac.com." However, when DotMac changed to MobileMe, your email address changed to "yourname@me.com" (though the old @mac.com email may still work).

But...

Even though your email address changed, your Apple ID (which is independent from your email) did not.

I'd suggest you go to appleid.apple.com and make sure all your email and contact information is correct there. Then, determine if you have any other Apple IDs, pick one to be your primary and just use that one going forward for all Apple services -- except those related to MobileMe, but of course, that may all be changing in two days.

Now I've confused even myself, but good luck anyway!

Cynthia writes:

I share my new iPad with my husband and we both adore it. However, we have very different tastes in music. Is there an easy way for us to both have our music libraries on the iPad, but to keep them separate? He may want to relive high school, but I don't.

Unfortunately, the iPad doesn't have a great way to handle data from multiple users. If you and your spouse wish to share an iPad, and both access your email through the Mail app, it can be done, but it involves dancing between multiple mailboxes, and anyone who picks up the iPad can see all your saved mail. There's no logging in and out, like there is in Mac OS X.

In your case, there is a decent workaround. I'd suggest you make "his" and "hers" playlists in iTunes on your computer, and then sync your iPad. If you have it set up to bring over all your music, you won't have to do anything -- but if you sync by playlist, make sure to select your respective playlists to make sure they sync.

Then, when you go into the iPod app on your iPad, simply select the appropriate playlist on the left side. The iPad is quite nice in that you can sort by song, artist or album within a playlist -- this way, you can select your playlist, browse by whatever criteria you prefer and listen to your tunes knowing you won't have to deal with your husband's questionable taste in music. I hope this helps!

Thanks for the questions guys, and remember, we need your help keeping Ask TUAW running. Put your questions in the comments of this post, or shoot us an email at ask [at] tuaw.com. If you have anything to add to our answers, we're always looking for fresh ideas.

In the meantime, have a great week, and we'll see you next time for the In Like A Lion, Eh? edition of Ask TUAW!