Apple's Content Delivery System Reportedly Live for OS X; Faster Downloads Expected

The next time you download an Apple software update for OS X, expect it to run a little more smoothly. As Ars Technica reports, segments of Apple's long-awaited content delivery system are apparently live at last in the U.S. and Europe, and the new service will allow the Cupertino company to delivery content updates and related downloads more easily.

Apple hasn't released any official statements yet, but analyst Dan Rayburn of the firm Frost and Sullivan found evidence of it by studying trace routes for OS X. Some of the routes now allow 10x Apple's former capacity with Comcast, thus allowing the iPhone maker to shoot off many terabits of data per second. Other networks, such as AT&T and Verizon, may allow the same privileges. Apple reportedly still relies heavily on third-party services to deliver data such as iTunes content, iCloud data, and other software — at least for now.

The appeal of the network lies in its ability to sidestep the congestion that occurs when Apple releases major new content updates (such as what we saw when iOS 7 landed). Much like Netflix, which is responsible for similar data flooding, Apple is rumored to be paying Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon for the privilege of direct delivery.

"It's too early to know how much traffic will come over and when, but Apple's already started using their own CDN much faster than I expected," Rayburn said."The pace of their build out and amount of money they are spending on infrastructure is incredible. Based on my calculations, Apple has already put in place multiple terabits per second of capacity and by the end of this year, will have invested well more than $100M in their CDN build out."

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