Basic AF: a (mostly) tech podcast

Photographer 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 finally won him over, and how his iPhone replaced a much pricier video camera. Stick around for the free app he still can't believe costs nothing.
In this episode:
Apple's "Welcome home" event in New York on October 13 and what might show up
How a trip for a watch band ended with an iPhone 18 Pro at $0 a month
f/1.48 vs. f/4: brighter low-light shots, natural background blur, and sun stars
Photographic Styles that work like a Lightroom color profile, plus the new Film look
Why Chris is happy shooting HEIF instead of RAW
Camera Control: better than the 16, still clumsy
What the new aperture means if you just want good party photos
Shooting video with Blackmagic Camera, and his one gripe: slippery aluminum
Links from the show:
Chris Freitag: https://www.chrisfreitag.com
Chris on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisFreitag
Chris on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@chrisfreitag
Blackmagic Camera: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagiccamera
Leica LUX: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6477182657
Moment Pro Camera: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6748837351
Halide: https://halide.cam/
Meow Wolf Denver: https://meowwolf.com/visit/denver
Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message!
Support the show
Contact Us
Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com
You’ll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky
Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads
Join Tom’s newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks.
Tom has a new YouTube channel
Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design

Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating!
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Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen
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Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.

If 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 the 18 Pro, and Tom finally retired his original Apple Watch Ultra for the Ultra 4. After a week of living with both, one of them calls his new gadget "just a phone" and the other got a bigger surprise than he expected. Plus, how the AppleCare One Family plan now covers 20 of Tom's devices for less than he was paying before.
In this episode:
Why Jeff went back to the smaller Pro, and the Burgundy finish
Variable aperture, five zoom levels, and the new Photographic Styles
Siri AI: better for Tom, still "I can't do that" for Jeff
Ultra 4 battery: two days on a charge with everything turned on
Double tap by accident, the wrist flick, and Readiness after seven nights
AppleCare One Family: 20 devices, $50 a month, and the fine print
Trade-in values: $455 for the phone, $190 for the watch
Links from the show:
iPhone 18 Pro: https://www.apple.com/iphone-18-pro/
Apple Watch Ultra 4: https://www.apple.com/watch/
AppleCare One Family details: https://support.apple.com/en-us/148275
Every Apple Watch Ultra compared: https://www.macobserver.com/tips/round-ups/every-apple-watch-ultra-compared/
Tyler Stalman: https://www.youtube.com/@stalman
iPhone 18 Pro Camera Review: Dunton, Colorado: https://www.austinmann.com/trek/iphone-18-pro-camera-review-dunton
Mac Power Users: https://relay.fm/mpu
Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message!
Support the show
Contact Us
Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com
You’ll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky
Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads
Join Tom’s newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks.
Tom has a new YouTube channel
Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design

Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating!
Review on Apple Podcasts
Rate on Spotify
Recommend in Overcast

Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen
Apple Music
Spotify

Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.

Apple 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 whole event: the iPhone Duo, the 18 Pro and Pro Max, new AirPods, and Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. One of us pre-ordered before recording. One of us is quietly doing the math on owning two phones at once.
In this episode:
John Ternus hosts his first event as CEO
iPhone Duo: 5.4-inch outer screen, 7.6-inch inside, Touch ID, Apple Pencil support
What the Duo leaves out: telephoto, Face ID, action button, ProRAW
Duo pricing from $1,999 to $3,199, orders Oct 16, delivery Oct 23
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max: variable aperture, 8x telephoto, vapor chamber, A20
New AirPods keep the same price and add noise cancellation to the base model
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4: new sensors, readiness, health age, 50-hour battery
Audio Intelligence on the Watch, and where the privacy line sits now
Live immersive MLB games on Vision Pro
The OS 27 updates are here
More from Joe Moyer:
Website: https://www.24letters.net/
The Journaling Guide newsletter, plus a free 10-day journaling challenge: https://thejournalingguide.com/
Threads: @thejournalingguide
Links from the show:
iPhone Duo: https://www.apple.com/iphone-duo/
iPhone 18 Pro: https://www.apple.com/iphone-18-pro/
Apple Watch Series 12: https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-12/
Apple Watch Ultra 4: https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-ultra-4/
Audio Intelligence privacy paper: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/Audio_Intelligence_Privacy_Overview_Sep_2026.pdf
Halide: https://halide.cam/
Gentler Streak: https://gentlerstories.com/
Athlytic: https://athlyticapp.com/
Kalri$$ian "The Falcon" (NSFW)
Celsius 7 "Manners" (NSFW)
Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message!
Support the show
Contact Us
Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com
You’ll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky
Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads
Join Tom’s newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks.
Tom has a new YouTube channel
Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design

Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating!
Review on Apple Podcasts
Rate on Spotify
Recommend in Overcast

Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen
Apple Music
Spotify

Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.

Apple 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 actual numbers on both new Macs, weigh in on the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and the long-rumored foldable, and swap notes on cameras, Face ID quirks, and an update on Tom's new notebook habit.
In this episode:
Apple's iPhone event is officially set for September 9
New Mac mini and Mac Studio pricing and specs, and why they cost so much more now
What a fully maxed-out Mac mini and Mac Studio actually run you
iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and the foldable iPhone, and what it might cost
Camera lens talk and Halide's new "film types"
Face ID vs. Touch ID, and Jeff's post-stroke Face ID quirks
Tom's notebook and habit-tracker update, plus a Lochby Field Folio gift for his son
Links from the show:
Mac mini: https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/
Mac Studio: https://www.apple.com/mac-studio/
Halide: https://halide.cam/
Lochby Field Folio A5: https://www.lochby.com/products/field-folio-a5
Lochby Pocket Journal: https://www.lochby.com/products/pocket-journal
Field Notes: https://fieldnotesbrand.com/
Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message!
Support the show
Contact Us
Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com
You’ll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky
Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads
Join Tom’s newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks.
Tom has a new YouTube channel
Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design

Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating!
Review on Apple Podcasts
Rate on Spotify
Recommend in Overcast

Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen
Apple Music
Spotify

Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.

What 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 system: a custom monthly and weekly planner, daily notes, and a pocket journal that's his new daily carry wallet. Jeff's carried notebooks for decades and joins in with his own habits, plus a magnetic pocket e-reader that's small enough to attach to the back of your iPhone.
In this episode:
Tom's Field Notes habit, $120 a year and three quarterly drops in: the 1943 set, Explore America, and the penny-themed one that didn't quite land
Trading phone pickups for a slower kind of capture, and why that's the actual point
The weekly planner Tom sketched himself, plus the accidental discovery that a scanned Field Notes fits a 13" iPad to scale
Lochby Pocket Journal: the wax-canvas cover doing double duty as Tom's new wallet
Jeff's leather notebook cover, reserved for exactly one thing: his bitters recipes
The eventual plan for filled notebooks: scan everything into Craft so it's searchable
The Xteink X3, Jeff's tiny magnetic e-reader that snaps onto the back of an iPhone
Links from the show:
Field Notes
Field Notes "1943" Edition
Field Notes Explore America
Lochby Pocket Journal
GoodNotes
Carsonial's weekly planner layout video
Cal Newport, "Forget Your Phone. You Need a Single-Purpose Notebook"
Xteink X3
Question or Comment? Send us a Text Message!
Support the show
Contact Us
Drop us a line at feedback@basicafshow.com
You’ll find Jeff at @reyespoint on Threads and reyespoint.bsky.social on Bluesky
Find Tom at @tomanderson on Threads
Join Tom’s newsletter, Apple Talk, for more Apple coverage and tips & tricks.
Tom has a new YouTube channel
Show artwork by the great Randall Martin Design

Enjoy Basic AF? Leave a review or rating!
Review on Apple Podcasts
Rate on Spotify
Recommend in Overcast

Intro Music: Psychokinetics - The Chosen
Apple Music
Spotify

Transcripts and some images are AI generated and may contain errors and general silliness.