Apple Now Using China Telecom as Data Center Provider in China

china_telecom_logo Apple has officially added China Telecom as a data center provider in China, reports The Wall Street Journal. The move comes after 15 months of "stringent tests and evaluation" by the Fuzhou city government, as Apple states that all data stored on the servers is encrypted. According to Reuters, Apple says the new data center will help improve the speed and reliability of iCloud and the iTunes Store in the region.

"Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously. We have added China Telecom to our list of data center providers to increase bandwidth and improve performance for our customers in mainland China," it said.

The move could also help ease tensions between Apple and China as of late, as the country recently deemed iOS' location tracking services a "national security concern." Apple responded to those claims reiterating its commitment to privacy and stating that its Location Services exist to aide navigation features.

China has become an important market for Apple, as the company has looked to improve its presence in the country as of late. Late last year, the company started selling the iPhone on China Mobile, the country's biggest carrier, and opened more retail stores throughout the region. CEO Tim Cook has also made a number of visits to China, meeting with Bejing's mayor and the Chinese Vice Premier to discuss opportunities.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

yjchua95 Avatar
135 months ago
"Apple takes user security and privacy very seriously."

Privacy, my ass...
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Planey28 Avatar
135 months ago
I just discovered Privacy > Location > Services > Popular Near Me.

What does that do? It sends off your location to Apple each time you launch an app. Why? So Apple can sell that app to other people near you.

I call BS they care about your privacy. I turned it off because it's been killing my 4S's battery by firing up my GPS every time I swap apps.

It's for the app store's popular near me section... its hardly violating your privacy since it only shows a list of popular apps in the area if a lot of users are using that app.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
euphemus Avatar
135 months ago
Knowing what we know about civil liberties and state surveillance in China, this is basically the same as Apple just handing over its Chinese customers' phones to the government.

$ > ethics.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tongxinshe Avatar
135 months ago
This makes me laugh. Privacy in China. Hell has to freeze over first. Not sure that will happen anytime soon. We will see how soon the first complaint will come that the data was breached.

You are totally wrong. Unless you are a high-profile figure, you have a much much better chance to have privacy in China than in the US. The US NSA is much much more capable than the Chinese one, they are as immoral as each other, and as willing to invade everyone's privacy as each other.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
euphemus Avatar
135 months ago
how is that too different from NSA?

It's not.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thasan Avatar
135 months ago
Knowing what we know about civil liberties and state surveillance in China, this is basically the same as Apple just handing over its Chinese customers' phones to the government.

$ > ethics.

mm...what? how is that too different from NSA? :confused:
at least, the customers will now be spied by chinese people :D

----------

It's for the app store's popular near me section... its hardly violating your privacy since it only shows a list of popular apps in the area if a lot of users are using that app.

yep. the GPS never fires off...
and it very useful! thats how i found my local taxi has a really cool app! and now its one of my most fav apps :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)