Basic AF: a (mostly) tech podcast
by Tom Anderson & Jeff Battersby
Latest episode
iPhone Duo: Two Weeks With Apple's Foldable with Riley Hill
iPhone Duo: Two Weeks With Apple's Foldable with Riley Hill
About this podcast
Apple makes incredible products. The tips and insights that actually help are harder to find. Basic AF cuts through the hype cycles and gets straight to what matters for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch users. Plus, app recommendations, gear reviews, AI tools, and the everyday tech that actually shows up in your life. Every other Monday, Tom Anderson and Jeff Battersby bring 25+ years of real-world Apple experience to practical, insightful conversations for people like you.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 102 episodes
- iPhone Duo: Two Weeks With Apple's Foldable with Riley Hill · 1 h 2 min · Episode 100For our 100th episode, Riley Hill of SlatePad, the biggest iPad person we know, joins us after two weeks with his iPhone Duo to compare notes with Tom. We get into the weight…
- iPhone Duo First Impressions: 12 Hours In · 58 min · Episode 99If you've been eyeing Apple's first foldable and wondering whether it's a pocket iPad or just a very expensive phone, this one's for you. Tom got his iPhone Duo less than 24…
- iPhone 18 Pro Camera: A Pro Photographer's Verdict with Chris Freitag · 53 min · Episode 98Photographer and YouTuber Chris Freitag is back to explain what the new adjustable aperture does for your photos even if you never touch a setting, why Photographic Styles…
- iPhone 18 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 4: One Week In · 52 min · Episode 97If you're holding an iPhone or Apple Watch that's a few years old and wondering whether this is the year to upgrade, this one's for you. Jeff went from an iPhone 15 Pro Max to…
- Apple Event Recap: iPhone Duo, iPhone 18 Pro/Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and more with Joe Moyer · 1 h 4 min · Episode 96Apple finally showed the folding iPhone, and it arrived with a $1,999 starting price and a lot of great and interesting features. Tom and Jeff bring Joe Moyer back to walk the…
- Apple's iPhone Event is Set, and New Mac mini and Mac Studio Models · 46 minApple just locked in a date for the big iPhone event, and new Mac mini and Mac Studio models landed early with a price jump that'll make your eyes water. Tom and Jeff run the…
- Ditching the Phone for Field Notes (and a Tiny E-Reader) · 49 min · Episode 94What do you actually do with a stack of pocket notebooks once you own more than you'll ever fill? Tom's been figuring that out for six months, and it turned into an actual…
- Samsung Galaxy Fold8 Hands-On and Apple's New Upgrade Program · 52 min · Episode 93Tom got five minutes with Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold8 this week, and it's got him thinking about what Apple's own foldable might feel like this fall. Then Jeff works through…
- Is Siri Finally Fixed? We Put Apple’s New Siri AI to the Test · 51 min · Episode 92The public betas for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and watchOS 27 landed this week, and Tom and Jeff have been putting them through their paces on phones, watches, iPads, and a…
- The Podcast App That’s Changing How We Learn | Kevin Smith (Co-Founder of Snipd) · 54 min · Episode 91You love podcasts. You're always hearing something worth remembering. And then... you forget it. Sound familiar? Tom and Jeff sit down with Kevin Smith, co-founder of Snipd — the…
- Simple, Effective Ways to Use Apple Reminders with Robin Kai · 50 min · Episode 90Robin Kai, based in Munich, Germany, is a husband, dad, and writer on Medium and at ForMacUsers.com. He's built a simple, flexible system around Apple's built-in apps that…
- WWDC 2026 Keynote Recap with Riley Hill and Joe Moyer · 1 h 10 min · Episode 89Tom and Jeff are joined by returning guests Riley Hill (Slatepad.org) and Joe Moyer (24letters.net) for a full roundtable on what Apple announced during the WWDC keynote and what…
- MacBook Air M5 (13" & 15") First Impressions, iPhone 17 Pro MLS Event, KC Public Schools Go Apple · 44 min · Episode 88Both of us did something a little unusual this month: we both walked away with the MacBook Air M5. Tom grabbed the 15-inch for work, Jeff picked up the Midnight Blue 13-inch —…
- Mac Mini Gets Pricier, Siri Payout, and iOS 27 Rumors · 45 min · Episode 87There's a lot happening in Apple land right now. Mac mini prices just went up, a Siri class action settlement might land in your inbox soon, and a fresh iOS 27 rumor has some…
- AI Tools: What's Actually Working (and What Isn't) with Bill McLean · 55 min · Episode 86Big news out of Cupertino: Tim Cook is stepping down as CEO, with hardware engineering chief John Ternus set to take the helm this September. Tom and Jeff spend a few minutes on…
- Mac Mini & Mac Studio Shortages, Kindle Cutoffs & Four Things Worth Knowing About iOS 26.4 · 46 min · Episode 85Tom and Jeff dig into why it's getting harder and harder to buy a Mac mini or Mac Studio in anything beyond a base configuration — and what that might mean about upcoming M5…
- MacBook Neo Real-World Review with Nate Gorby · 50 min · Episode 84Nate Gorby is back — and this time he's got two weeks of daily MacBook Neo use to report on. Coming from an M2 MacBook Air he'd already sold, Nate picked up the Neo on day one…
- MacBook Neo, Apple’s First 50 Years, and the Weirdest Wearable Yet · 52 min · Episode 83Tom and Jeff are back with a packed episode that wanders from Apple hardware to Apple history to Apple TV+ sports to, well, a scientific fart study. If that sounds like a lot, it…
- A Budget MacBook, iPad Updates & Going Analog with Field Notes · 48 min · Episode 82Apple's dropping a wave of new products this week — and Tom and Jeff break down everything that's expected: a budget MacBook starting around $600, an iPhone 16E follow-up, iPad…
- Siri Delayed Again — And a Ray-Ban Meta Glasses Review with Nate Gorby · 56 min · Episode 81Tom flies solo this week and welcomes first-time guest Nate Gorby for a conversation about Apple’s ongoing Siri delays, the state of Apple Intelligence, and what it all means for…
