According to a report by Oregon Live, Apple is hiring for a secret hardware lab located in Washington County.
The company allegedly hired almost two-dozen individuals for a hardware engineering lab. It’s supposedly raiding talent from other Oregon-based tech employers like Intel.
Additionally, the report says Apple’s Oregon job postings seek someone with design verification expertise. In other words, someone who can ensure a finished product matches original specifications.
Supposedly the lab is located between Beaverton and Hillsboro in Washington County, close to the core of Oregon’s hardware ecosystem. Oregon also has a large cluster of web service companies in downtown Portland.
This may be part of Apple’s Project Kalamata. Kalamata is the company’s plan to replace Intel processors with it’s own chips.
Apple isn’t supposed to shift away from Intel until 2020. However, this new hardware lab may be the first part of the shift.
Switching to its own in-house chips could help Apple lower internal costs. Additionally, Apple would have more control over the manufacturing process.
Apple isn’t new to the Oregon area. It has large data centre campuses in Prineville and a software development team in Vancouver, Oregon.
Additionally, Apple’s Advanced Computation Group is located in Portland and has reportedly been there for almost a decade.
While it isn’t clear what Apple is up to in Oregon, the company has plenty of resources nestled away there. A secret hardware lab added to the mix could mean Apple’s next big thing will be born in the Beaver State.
Source: Oregon Live
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