Apple to spend $2bn on converting failed sapphire plant into data center

By Trevor Mogg February 3, 2015

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Shortly after Apple’s sapphire glass supplier GT Advanced Technologies filed for bankruptcy in October last year, the Cupertino company promised it was “focused on preserving jobs” in Mesa, Arizona, where GT had its sapphire plant.

Several months on and a Wall Street Journal report has revealed how Apple is going some way to keeping its word with a $2 billion investment in the building of a data center in Mesa, on the same site as GT’s former plant.

However, while the the project will create 150 full-time jobs, as well as around 400 temporary positions related to the center’s construction, this only goes some of the way to replacing the 700 or so full-time jobs lost when GT’s plant closed.

Apple said the new facility will also serve as a command center for its network of data centers around the world, and will be powered by a solar farm it’s building on an adjoining site. Construction is likely to begin some time next year.

An Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg Monday that the company was proud to continue investing in the U.S., adding that the multibillion-dollar project is “one of the largest investments we’ve ever made.”

GT Advanced Technologies filed for bankruptcy protection in the fall of 2014 after a $578 million deal with Apple fell through as a result of its failure to produce iPhone 6 screens of a usable quality.

[Source, WSJ, Bloomberg]

Topics

Apple

Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Mobile

Best cell phone plan deals: T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, Mint Mobile and more

Woman

One of the best phones deserves one of the best cell phone plans, and whether you’re shopping for yourself or you’re looking to add a line to your plan for a family member, there are more options out there than many people think. With larger carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile you can often find some great phone deals, but if you’re simply shopping for a cell phone plan, we’ve got all of the information you need to get yourself one of the best cell plan deals. Reading onward you’ll find the best cell phone plan deals to shop right now, and while these are general plans offered by each provider, they do include some of the best cell phone plans out there.
Mint Mobile: Get any 3-month plan for $15 per month
For a limited time, Mint Mobile has dropped the three-month price for all of its plans to just $15 per month. That means, the Unlimited plan, normally $30 per month, or $90 for three months, is no just $15 per month or $45 for three months. The base 5GB of data per month plan is $15 per month, and the 15GB per month plan is $15 per month, or $45 for three months. That is an incredible deal. All Mint Mobile plans include unlimited talk and text, access to 5GB high-speed data, free calling to Mexico and Canada, free mobile hotspot access, and WiFi calling support. You can't beat that!

U.S. Mobile: Pre-pay $23 per line per month
Prepaid wireless plans are a great option for light users, kids, and anyone else who won’t be consuming a lot of data on a daily basis. U.S. Mobile is one of the best prepaid service providers available today, allowing you to build your own custom plan, so you’re only paying for as many minutes, texts, and gigabytes of data as you want to. As just one example, its Unlimited Starter plan is just $15 per line, or $276 for 12 months -- saving you $72 per year. You get unlimited talk, text, and data, 10GB of hotspot data, international calling and texting, and more. If you're adding multiple lines to a plan, you can also unlock free extras like Disney+ and Netflix.

Mobile

Are you having iPhone alarm problems? A fix is coming soon

A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus.

If you’ve slept through an important meeting or missed your alarm lately, it may not be entirely your fault if you’re an iPhone user. For weeks now, iPhone users have been reporting on social media that their devices are no longer ringing.

Today, The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern finally confirmed this. According to Stern, Apple has confirmed that it’s aware of the issue causing some alarms not to play a sound and is working on a fix.
iPhone alarm issues explained
The iPhone alarm problem seems to be tied to Apple’s Attention Aware features. For those unfamiliar, it’s a feature that lowers the volume sound of your alerts and alarms if you’re looking at your device and avoids dimming the screen, similar to how Samsung phones keep the screen on if they see you looking at your screen.

Mobile

Google Pixel 8a: news, rumored price, release date, and more

Possible renders showing the Google Pixel 8a.

Not long ago, it seemed like the Google Pixel 7a would be the last smartphone in Google's Pixel A series. However, recent rumors indicate that this may not actually be the case.

As a result, we're likely to see the release of a Google Pixel 8a this year. What can we expect from this new budget phone in terms of its specs, design, price, and more? Let's take a closer look at everything we know about the Google Pixel 8a.
Google Pixel 8a: release date