Secret Apple engineering lab pops up in Oregon with Intel, tech alumni

Apple, in a hush-hush move, has opened a new hardware engineering lab in Washington County, Ore., bringing in two-dozen employees recruited from Intel and other area tech companies.

According to The Oregonian, which cited a source familiar with the matter, as well as job postings and social media profiles of the employees themselves, the facility's exact location is unknown, but it's "near the border" between Beaverton and Hillsboro, west of Portland. Intel has a heavy presence in that area of Oregon.

The jobs seek "verification expertise," indicating that the new office will concentrate on making sure products meet expectations set forth by the plans for the devices. The ads also list "Portland" jobs, although the Oregonian source said they're actually in Washington County.

The addition of the Oregon facility continues a period of heavy expansion by Apple, in new buildings large and small. Apple, following the arrival of Apple Park, has continued to open new facilities in Northern California, including a new Santa Clara office announced reported Thursday.

Apple also continues to search for another new major campus, a process in which Northern Virginia and North Carolina are seen as favorites. Oregon, the newspaper said, was never in the running for that.

The Oregonian report also revealed the existence of a small facility, based in a converted firehouse in Southeast Portland, run by Apple's Advanced Computation Group. The Group has operated the facility for over a decade.

Apple has also operated a data center in Prineville since 2013.