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

maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says These 7 U.S. States Plan to Offer iPhone Driver's Licenses

Monday February 9, 2026 6:24 am PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Apple Expected to Launch These 10+ Products Over the Coming Months

Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more. Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New MacBook Pros Could Now Arrive in March

Sunday February 8, 2026 6:02 am PST by
New MacBook Pro models with the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips could arrive as soon as Monday, March 2, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that the release of new MacBook Pro models is tied to the release of macOS Tahoe 26.3. The launch is said to be slated for as early as the week of March 2. He added that the M4 Pro and M4 Max models on sale today...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...

Top Rated Comments

Parasprite Avatar
162 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
162 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
162 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
162 months ago
In the photo, they are lowering in the Transparent Aluminum.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macchiato2009 Avatar
162 months ago
bigger data center = bigger PRISM :rolleyes:
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Butler Trumpet Avatar
162 months ago
So the Apple Data Center looks like the Star Wars Sandcrawler. Cool.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)