This Week's Sponsor:

Kolide

Ensure that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta.


More Details On Apple’s North Carolina Data Center

Last night we reported that Apple’s new data center in Maiden, North Carolina is, according to many sources, ready to begin operations “any day now”. In the past weeks we heard rumors about Apple willing to double the size of the facility to 1 million square feet, being the current size 500,000 square feet.

Now it turns out Apple was planning to increase the size of the data center all along, the project is named “Dolphin” and the “phase 2” should include the aforementioned expansion.

MacRumors and All Things Digital are referring to this image found on Catawba County, N.C Flickr page, showing detailed renderings of Apple’s facility, with two data centers next to each other. So perhaps Apple was planning to add more power and servers all along, since the picture was taken last summer. MacRumors also speculates that the publicized size figured referred to the total project with two buildings, thus bringing the size of the current structure to 250,000 square feet:

The discovery also raises the question of the size of the current facility. Public disclosures regarding the facility have always referred to it as a 500,000 square-foot project with a price tag on the order of $1 billion. Consequently, rumors of a doubling of the data center’s size assumed that that would bring the facility to a total of one million square feet. It seems possible, however, that the publicized figures in fact referred to the total project with both buildings completed, and thus the current building set to begin operation may only be 250,000 square feet.

Anyway we put it, it’s clear that Apple is betting on this data center. And we can’t wait to find out what it’s all about.

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.