Apple sets sights on new Iowa data center to handle growing cloud demands

Apple is reportedly in the early stages of setting up a new data center in Waukee, Iowa, which should join several others scattered around the U.S.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority will tackle a "review of application for investment" at a special 10:15 a.m. meeting on Thursday, according to the Des Moines Register. Sources told the Register that the investment is indeed an Apple data center, and the Waukee City Council will hold its own meeting at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow to discuss "Project Morgan" — a development agreement with Apple which will see the the sale and re-zoning of city-owned property, including help from a firm called Bravo Real Estate LLC.

The IEDA will "consider an undisclosed amount of incentives" for Apple, the Register added. Apple often takes advantage of government handouts when looking to build new facilities.

The company already has data centers in California, Nevada, Oregon, and North Carolina. Internationally another facility is located in China, and still more centers are planned for Denmark and Ireland, though the latter has been mired in legal obstacles.

Apple is becoming increasingly dependent on cloud infrastructure, thanks to services like iCloud, iTunes, Apple Music, and the App Store. Indeed the company may be upgrading iTunes video to 4K, imposing yet more demands.