I have been sniffing the initial exchange after a connection.
Via an ATT_Exchange_MTU_Req the iDevice says it can support MTU of 135 bytes! (0x0087) the BLE112 then responds with an ATT_Exchange_MTU_Rsp of 23 bytes. iOS remembers and uses this value as the basis of future comms with the peripheral (the whole point of ATT_Exchange_MTU_Req/Rsp)
In the BTSpec4.0.pdf section 3.4.6.1 Prepare Write Request it says that the Part Attribute value has ATT_MTU-5 = 23 - 5 = 18 bytes to use contain a part of the value.
Had this confirmed by a BLE guru @ Apple so reasonably sure this is correct.