From the Editor's Desk: Pandemic or not, there's no stopping the Apple train

I hope you've all had a great week (as good as it can be, given the circumstances), because apparently, Apple certainly has had a great year, pandemic or not.

That's right. This week was Apple's third-quarter earnings call, which we have the full transcript of right here. And even though this year has been hard for a lot of people, it seems that Apple is doing fine. In fact, it's doing pretty great, with its stock hitting a new all-time high. As of this writing, AAPL is sitting at $425 a share, and the company started the year with a price of around $300, if I remember correctly.

Speaking of AAPL, the company also announced a surprising 4-for-1 stock split as a result of their strong third financial quarter. This split will occur on August 24, 2020, and it means that current shareholders will see every share that they have split into four shares at about $100 each. The split-adjusted trading begins on August 31, where each share will then be around $100 to purchase. The goal of the stock split was to make obtaining shares of AAPL more accessible to everyone, who may have been put off with having to drop several hundred just to obtain a single share. The last time that Apple did this was back in 2014 with a 7-for-1 split. I'm sure that current shareholders will be happy.

However, despite all the good news from the earnings call, Apple has confirmed that there will be a slight delay for the iPhone 12. Usually, Apple holds the fall iPhone event in September, but Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the iPhone 12 will be launching a few weeks later. We're guessing around mid-October, but we aren't sure if this delay is for the announcement or the actual launch of the device. I guess we will find out once September rolls around. I'm not surprised about the delay at all, but I guess that just means I'm holding on to my iPhone 11 Pro a tiny bit longer than I intended.

Even so, there's still iOS and iPadOS 14 to look forward to (hopefully no delays there). Our own Joe Keller wrote two more fantastic pieces about Shortcuts and automation as well as folders in Shortcuts, and I recommend giving them a read. Shortcuts can certainly help you save time for frequently repeated actions, so automations and organizational folders a nice addition.

It's also just about time for students to head back to school, though there may be a lot more online learning than before. But don't worry, these great apps I rounded up (geared towards college students, but can also apply to high school) should help you out, so make sure to give them a try. And if you want to take a break from hitting the books so hard, don't forget to check out some of the best Nintendo Switch games!

Anyways, that's a wrap for this week. See you next time!

- Christine Romero-Chan