Apple wants to use GT Advanced's former sapphire plant to produce hardware that will be used within its U.S. data centers, according to a notification published by the Federal Register and shared by Business Insider.

Apple is seeking approval from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to create "finished products and foreign status materials/components" in the factory. Specifically, Apple wants to create "finished server assembly cabinets" and needs permission to use materials sourced from abroad.

gtadvancedlocation

Image via AZCentral

According to the filing, the data center cabinets will be used for "other global data centers." A person with knowledge of Apple's data centers spoke to Business Insider and said Apple's data center server production will be consolidated in Mesa, Arizona.

Servers for Apple's Oregon and North Carolina data centers are currently built and tested on-site, and the same likely goes for other global data center locations. With the Mesa factory, Apple will build and configure all U.S. servers in Arizona and ship them to Oregon and North Carolina.

Apple originally purchased the Mesa, Arizona factory for sapphire manufacturer GT Advanced, but after the sapphire-making company failed to produce sapphire up to Apple's standards and went bankrupt, Apple was left with an empty facility.

Apple announced plans to repurpose the sapphire plant in 2014, and is said to be investing $2 billion to turn it into a "global command center" for Apple's data network. At 1.3 million square feet, the facility is large enough to serve as both a data center and a manufacturing plant for data center equipment.

Top Rated Comments

jwm Avatar
107 months ago
I wonder if they will be the thinnest racks ever designed. :rolleyes:
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PlainviewX Avatar
107 months ago
Making Racks Great Again.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
107 months ago
I do hope this is a cover and they are actually producing a car, a phone, and plane. a car, a phone, and a plane. Do you get it yet. Its not three products but one that does it all.



LOL :D:p:cool:
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fall Under Cerulean Kites Avatar
107 months ago
I’d love to get a glimpse inside Apple’s data centers to see what sort of equipment they’re running!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Glassed Silver Avatar
107 months ago
I wish they made XServes again...

Glassed Silver:mac
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrystalQuest76 Avatar
107 months ago
Macintosh computers have been made in Arizona in the past. Specifically the Motorola StarMax. ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_StarMax') They were good machines.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Visa and American Express Vying to Win Apple Card Deal in 'Fierce' Fight

Tuesday April 1, 2025 1:50 pm PDT by
Visa wants to pay Apple approximately $100 million to be the new payment network for the Apple Card, reports The Wall Street Journal. As of right now, the Apple Card is on the Mastercard payment network, but that is set to change because Apple is ending its partnership with Goldman Sachs. Both American Express and Visa are vying to replace Mastercard as Apple's card services provider, while...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 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. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

Apple Seeds First Beta of iOS 18.5 to Developers

Wednesday April 2, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming just two days after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. We don't yet know what Apple is introducing in the iOS 18.5...