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Apple Mesa Global Data Command Center

Apple Mesa Global Data Command Center is an operating Apple data center at 3740 S Signal Butte Rd in Mesa, in a 1.3 million square foot former manufacturing plant. Apple says it began serving customers in March 2017, and its 2026 report lists Mesa among the data centers it owns and operates.

Operating data center in 3740 S Signal Butte Rd, Mesa. Operated by Apple.

The short version

What was the building before Apple?

  • The Arizona Republic reported in January 2017 that First Solar built the plant but never fully occupied it, and that GT Advanced Technologies, a sapphire-glass supplier to Apple, then filed for bankruptcy and vacated the building.
  • pv magazine reported in October 2013 that First Solar was selling its mothballed 1.3 million square foot Mesa plant, which was never put into module production, at a loss of $55 million to $60 million.

Who holds the land?

  • The Maricopa County Assessor lists Platypus Development LLC as the owner of the parcel. County air quality records list the company as Platypus Development LLC, with a company address at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California, and an emissions report submitted to the county in that company's name is signed by an Apple Inc. environmental program manager.

What did Apple plan for the site?

  • Data Center Knowledge reported in February 2015 that Apple would spend $2 billion to convert the plant into a data center. Governor Doug Ducey's announcement said it was expected to employ 150 full-time Apple employees, with 300 to 500 construction and trade jobs.
  • The City of Mesa's application for foreign-trade subzone status, covering a proposed 83.17-acre subzone at Apple's facility, was published in the Federal Register in January 2014. In April 2017 the Foreign-Trade Zones Board authorized production activity for Apple data server cabinets in Subzone 221A in Mesa, and Apple said production at the site would be limited to assembling servers into racks.

What has changed since it opened?

  • 9to5Mac, reporting in August 2018 on an Arizona Republic tour, said Apple opened the plant as a data center with 150 employees in 2016. MacTrast also wrote that it had been operating since 2016.
  • Mesa issued data center expansion permits in July 2021 and October 2022 to fit out existing space, valued at about $33 million and $28 million, and issued a certificate of occupancy for the 2021 work on July 21, 2023.
  • Permits issued in April 2024 and February 2025 cover chilled water and condenser water plant upgrades and a soft water system with water treatment.
  • In February 2025 Apple said it plans to continue expanding data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada. It named states, not individual sites.

Where does its power come from?

  • Apple said in 2015 that, like all its data centers, it would be powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
  • In September 2016 SRP announced that its board had approved buying the energy from Apple's new 50 megawatt solar plant in Pinal County, east of the Mesa center, under a 25-year agreement, so that the clean power can feed into SRP's grid that supports Apple.
  • Cleanview, a listing site, gives the data center 50 MW without saying what that figure measures.

Where it is

Aerial photo of Apple's Mesa data center on Signal Butte Road, a long white-roofed building with solar panels and a cooling plant, with the parcel outlined in yellow
Aerial photo flown September 15, 2023: USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP); source: USGS, USDA, The National Map: Orthoimagery (public domain). Outline drawn by Arizona AI from Maricopa County Assessor parcel records.

Outlined in yellow: the parcel at 3740 S Signal Butte Rd, Mesa, where Apple's data center stands. It shows the land, not where buildings would go. Parcels: Maricopa County Assessor, Parcel 314-10-776A. Shapes: Maricopa County Assessor (read November 7, 2026).

Open in Google Maps

  • Capacity: 50 MW
  • Floor area: 1.3M sq ft
  • Land: 83 acres
  • Online since: 2017

Capacity: Estimate from a data center listing site. Cleanview project map, read October 7, 2026. By November 2026 Cleanview no longer showed building figures publicly, and no operator source found gives one for this building. The listing does not say what the figure measures.

Timeline

  1. : pv magazine reports First Solar is selling its mothballed Mesa module plant, never put into module production, at a loss of $55 million to $60 million. Source: pv magazine, First Solar loses $60m on sale of Mesa facility
  2. : The Federal Register publishes the City of Mesa's application for foreign-trade subzone status for Apple's facility, an 83.17-acre proposed subzone at 3740 S. Signal Butte Rd. Source: Federal Register, Foreign-Trade Zone 221-Mesa, Arizona, Application for Subzone, Apple, Inc., Mesa, Arizona
  3. : Data Center Knowledge reports Apple will spend $2 billion to turn a former 1.3 million square foot Mesa plant into a data center. Source: Data Center Knowledge, Apple Data Center Coming to Arizona
  4. : MacRumors reports Apple will take over the Mesa factory where GT Advanced had produced sapphire boules before it filed for bankruptcy and abandoned the plant. Source: MacRumors, Apple to Build $2B 'Global Command Center' in Former GT Advanced Plant
  5. : Apple's global command data center in Mesa comes online, according to Apple. Source: Apple Inc., Apple 2025 Environmental Progress Report
  6. : Mesa issues permit BLD2016-00395 for electrical work to convert the existing 1.3 million sq ft facility into a data center, valued at $59.15 million. Source: City of Mesa, Building permit BLD2016-00395, 3740 S Signal Butte Rd (Mesa open data)
  7. : SRP announces its board has approved buying the energy from Apple's new 50-megawatt solar plant in Pinal County, east of the Mesa data command center, under a 25-year agreement. Source: T&D World, SRP Launches Major New Renewable Energy Project with Apple
  8. : The converted plant begins serving customers, according to Apple. Source: Apple Inc., Apple 2025 Environmental Progress Report
  9. : The Foreign-Trade Zones Board authorizes production activity for Apple Inc. (data server cabinets) in Subzone 221A in Mesa. Source: Federal Register, Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) 221-Mesa, Arizona; Authorization of Production Activity; Apple Inc.; (Data Server Cabinets); Mesa, Arizona
  10. : Mesa issues permit PMT21-09173 for a data center expansion that fits out existing space, valued at about $33 million. Source: City of Mesa, Building permit PMT21-09173, 3740 S Signal Butte Rd (Mesa open data)
  11. : Mesa issues permit PMT22-03129, a further data center expansion fitting out existing space with electrical and mechanical equipment, valued at $28 million. Source: City of Mesa, Building permit PMT22-03129, 3740 S Signal Butte Rd (Mesa open data)
  12. : Apple says it plans to continue expanding data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada, as part of more than $500 billion of U.S. spending over four years. Source: Apple Inc., Apple will spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years

Working here

Per-facility headcount is not published here: no reliable public figures exist for these sites, and construction announcements are not permanent employment. Open Arizona roles at this operator, where there are any, are listed on the operator's company page.

How we know this

Compiled from public records and checked on 2026-10-07. Confidence in this record: high. Blank figures mean the number is not publicly established, not that it is zero.

Each statement on this page is listed with the page it came from and the words that say it. Sources open in a new tab.