Apple Looking to Buy More Land for Oregon Data Center

Last October, Apple began construction on the first phase of its Prineville, Oregon data center, a project ultimately planned to include two 338,000 square-foot data center buildings on 160 acres.

prineville_data_center

First phase of Apple's Prineville data center under construction in February 2013 (Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian)

But as reported by the Central Oregonian late last week and covered in The Oregonian today, Apple appears to be looking to add an additional 96 acres to its holdings in the area. While no deal has been struck, officials with the City of Prineville and Crook County are looking to make zoning and other changes to the property so that a deal can be completed quickly.

Though [assistant planning director for Crook County Phil] Stenbeck declined to identify the company behind Project Pillar by name, it's plainly Apple.

The property awaiting transfer is covered by the same tax break agreement that Apple now operates under. And Stenbeck said Pillar previously went by the code name Maverick -- that's the name Apple used last year when it paid $5.6 million to buy 160 acres of Crook County land for its first Prineville data center.

The property in question is also inaccessible without traveling through Apple's property, making it all but certain that Apple would be the only entity interested in acquiring it.

Apple has been on a data center building boom in recent years, opening a large facility in Maiden, North Carolina and moving forward on both the Prineville project in Oregon and another facility near Reno, Nevada.

Apple's push into new data centers comes amid continued growth of Apple's digital stores, as well as growing iCloud services that require significant server capacity for Apple. The company has committed to using 100% renewable energy at its data centers, building its own solar farms and fuel cell facilities in some cases and in other cases sourcing wind and hyrdroelectric power from local providers.

Popular Stories

m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple to Hide Selfie Camera Under Display of 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display. Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
iphone air thinness

iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version

Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information. Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen. Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
iphone pocket%402x

Apple Debuts iPhone Pocket, a Limited Edition iPod Sock-Style Accessory

Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items. The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
homepod mini colors

New HomePod Mini Coming Soon With These Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting. The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
Apple fitness plus feature

Future of Apple Fitness+ 'Under Review'

Sunday November 9, 2025 5:30 am PST by
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue. Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Early Black Friday iPhone Deals

Monday November 10, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...

Top Rated Comments

Parasprite Avatar
158 months ago
I must need coffee. I initially read that as "Apple looking to buy Oregon" and found it plausible enough.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
street.cory Avatar
158 months ago
They should be building underground.


Or on a ship in the ocean. Wave power. Satellites. Ooh. IN SPACE. iSpaceCloud

This pleased my attention deficit brain
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
unplugme71 Avatar
158 months ago
I hope all these Data Centers being built by Apple don't result in Apple steering us towards a world where ALL our data/apps are "in the cloud".

If so, I could see a day when owning a Mac with no way to plug in external (private) drives would be forced on us as Apple is well known for forcing sudden turns in how things are done.

And remember, the "cloud" is just a euphemism for "YOUR data on SOMEONE ELSE's drive"...and with the creepy NSA lurking in the background, they would have access not only to all the data that goes in/out of your computer via your ISP, but now they also would have access to the data you have ONLY on your hard drives. In other words, they would now have EVERYTHING on you. And there is no encryption they can't break, either by coercing companies to comply or otherwise.

If it goes down this way Apple should change their name to Hoover....

I don't want this to happen, nor do I think it will. We, the customers, need to put our foot down when it comes to cloud apps and data storage. The consumer is the most powerful force for a company. If we tell Adobe by not buying their cloud suite, they will change their practices, so will Apple, Microsoft, etc..

Examples are how Microsoft changed practices with Xbox. Or how consumers prevented Bank of America for charging debit transactions and $5 replacement cards.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BornAgainMac Avatar
158 months ago
In the photo, they are lowering in the Transparent Aluminum.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macchiato2009 Avatar
158 months ago
bigger data center = bigger PRISM :rolleyes:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Butler Trumpet Avatar
158 months ago
So the Apple Data Center looks like the Star Wars Sandcrawler. Cool.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)