Apple Considering Building Huge New Data Center in Oregon

OregonLive.com reports that Apple is currently deciding whether to commit to building a major new data center in Prineville, Oregon that would complement its newly-opened facility in Maiden, North Carolina. Apple currently has an option to purchase 160 acres of land for the potential Prineville data center near a recently-opened Facebook data center, and Apple has until the end of this month to exercise that option or allow it to expire.

The world's largest tech company is nearing a decision on whether to build a large data center in Prineville, a quarter mile south of the Facebook server farm that opened earlier this year, according to two people with direct knowledge of Apple's plans.

...

Those familiar with the discussions say that Apple's Oregon plans have been in flux while it awaited word on whether there would be adequate electricity transmission in Prineville to meet its needs.

With transmission capacity expanding and other companies now looking elsewhere, a door opened for Apple.

Apple's project, codenamed "Maverick", is said to initially include a 31-megawatt data center, with plenty of land available for future expansion should the need arise and electricity capacity for the area prove sufficient. Apple's electricity demand for its North Carolina has not been disclosed, but some sources have estimated it in the range of 100 megawatts.

facebook oregon data center
Facebook's data center in Prineville, Oregon

Apple has been working hard to expand its data center capacity to handle iCloud and other services, having invested $1 billion in the North Carolina center and revealing a master plan that could see the size of the facility double in the future. Apple also maintains a smaller data center in Newark, California and has been building out minor additional capacity in Santa Clara, California near its corporate headquarters in Cupertino.

Data center industry observers have been expecting Apple to continue building out West Coast data center capacity, as most large tech companies seek to locate major facilities along each coast of the United States to provide redundancy and optimize performance.

Popular Stories

Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

10 Products Still Coming From Apple in 2025

Friday April 11, 2025 4:14 pm PDT by
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then. We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025. iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
iPhone 6s MacRumors YouTube

Apple Says These Products Are Now Vintage

Tuesday April 15, 2025 9:53 am PDT by
Apple today updated its vintage products list to add the 2018 Mac mini and the iPhone 6s, devices that will get more limited service and repairs now that they are considered vintage. The iPhone 6s initially launched in 2015, but Apple kept it around as a low-cost device until 2018, which is why it is only now being added to the vintage list. The iPhone 6s had Apple's A9 chip, and it was...

Top Rated Comments

DCJ001 Avatar
175 months ago
Headline six months from now:

Microsoft Considering Building Huge New Data Center in Oregon, Next To Apple's Data Center, Next To Facebook's Data Center.

Microsoft has no plans to use their data center. But, since Facebook and Apple built them, Microsoft felt that it was necessary.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Peace Avatar
175 months ago
This would be great for Oregon. We have lots of electricity. Only problem is it's sold to California.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slrandall Avatar
175 months ago
This would be great. Anything to make iCloud even better and Siri more reliable.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
paul4339 Avatar
175 months ago
Why are those HUGE walls in front of the data center?
part of data center design and specifications demands that the facilities be protected from projectiles caused from high winds, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. For high up-time data centers (Tier 3 & 4) they sometimes build big walls to meet those specs.

Sometime, you'll also see other stuff, like boulders in front or around the building to act as walls to prevent the disgruntled worker from driving a truck through the front doors (which is apparently is not rare).

.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
marcusj0015 Avatar
175 months ago
Why are those HUGE walls in front of the data center?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PlutoPrime Avatar
175 months ago

Personally I don't think iCloud is as popular as Apple wants it to be...I haven't touched it at all...not really a believer in "owning" stuff that I can't touch...such as cds, dvds, or books. Not to mention the glitches that may go with it "oh darn, iCloud is slow today...oh darn, iCloud is asking me to accept the License Agreement for the 3rd time this week...oh darn, iCloud says my account has a problem...oh darn, iCloud says I didn't pay my bill..."[COLOR="#808080"]

Your only saving grace in that paragraph was starting it with "Personally".
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)