Both 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 — and after a couple weeks of use, we've got a lot to say about battery life, setup philosophy, and one genuinely weird bug.

This week we cover:

• Jeff's "only install what you actually need" setup approach — and why it's working brilliantly
• Tom's mysterious MacBook Air lockup issue, and the macOS 26.4 bug that turned out to be the culprit
• Jeff's Studio Display needed a reset — turns out it runs a full iOS-based OS, and a simple unplug trick fixes a lot
• The Canvas (not Canva!) ransomware hack that hit 9,000+ schools right during finals week
• Apple shoots a live MLS game entirely on iPhone 17 Pro — sports history, or marketing stunt?
• Apple Card's "free" AirPods Pro 3 promo: the catch hiding in the fine print
• Kansas City Public Schools replacing 30,000 Windows PCs and Chromebooks with Apple devices
• Apple Sports app now covers the World Cup
• Field Notes Explore America notebooks: Tom has a new problem

Links from the show:

• Buy Jeff's MacBook Pro M2: https://swappa.com/listing/view/LAFC35203
• Field Notes Explore America: fieldnotesbrand.com/products/explore-america
• Apple TV + iPhone 17 Pro MLS broadcast: apple.com/newsroom
• Sign up for Tom's newsletter: tomfanderson.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.