Apple has announced a $1 billion investment to build a giant campus and engineering center outside of California.
The next few years are going to be one of the expansions for Apple. Three years ago, the company debuted the new Apple Park, a headquarters that is not connected to the ground and features a modern glass design but has led to many accidents.
But that was just the beginning. The company has already confirmed that the next iPhone chips will be designed in Europe, but that doesn’t mean it’s abandoning the U.S.; in fact, today it announced it will expand beyond its native California.
Apple today confirmed a $1 billion investment to build a new campus in North Carolina, which will employ thousands of people in a gigantic area.
New Apple campus
In what Apple defines as a time of “recovery and rebuilding”, the company has explained how it will continue to focus on “innovation and manufacturing” in the United States. The plan will affect all 50 states, with a total investment of $80 billion to be spent on building new U.S. data centers and suppliers, but also includes Apple’s own Apple TV+ productions.
More impressive is the announcement of the $1 billion that will be dedicated exclusively to a new area in North Carolina that will house Apple’s new engineering center; a large campus that will employ 3,000 people and follow in the footsteps of Apple Park.
It will practically be a small city, as Apple will invest $100 million to improve and expand the services needed to accommodate so many people. That includes the support of public schools and communities in the area, in addition to $110 million that will go to improving infrastructures such as roads, bridges, and Internet networks.
This expansion will be necessary for an Apple that has only grown during this pandemic, thanks to the launch of new products like the iPhone 12 but especially with its work on new computer processors; the Apple M1 is already in MacBooks and will be in the new iMac and even the new iPad Pro, and rumors of the next generation have already begun.
It will be located out of California
Perhaps the most striking thing about this announcement is not the investment itself, but where it will go. Because Apple has decided not to stay just in California, the state most associated with the technology sector and, of course, where Silicon Valley is located.
Expansion outside California may seem odd, but it is not unique among tech companies. Tesla is now focusing on Texas, and its sister SpaceX wants to create a city practically out of nothing. And Google has been planning a smart city in Toronto for years to experiment with and apply its technologies.
