Apple Rolls Out 3D Maps With Custom-Designed Landmarks in Washington, D.C. and San Diego [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that a new 3D map of Washington, D.C. in the Apple Maps app will allow users to explore the city's landmarks and memorials, such as the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The new mapping experience does not appear to be visible yet, but it likely will be soon.

Alongside the release of iOS 15 in September, Apple Maps gained new 3D maps with more detail and custom-designed landmarks in select cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and London. Apple said the 3D maps would be rolled out to additional cities later this year, including Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., and Apple previewed the feature in Washington, D.C. today in honor of Veterans Day.

Apple is honoring Veterans Day with special content in the App Store, Apple Books app, Apple TV app, and more. There is also a Veterans Day-themed Activity Challenge that Apple Watch users in the U.S. can complete by recording any workout for 11 minutes or longer today with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to the Health app.

Apple CEO Tim Cook today tweeted that he is "grateful today and always for the dedication and service of our veterans and their families, and the invaluable experience they bring long after they have left the military, including here at Apple."

Update Nov 12 10:00 a.m.: The new 3D map experience is live not only in Washington, D.C., but also in San Diego.

Article Link: Apple Rolls Out 3D Maps With Custom-Designed Landmarks in Washington, D.C. and San Diego [Updated]

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Very lovely! 3D Maps, it’s only getting better.

 

[Altivec88]

1 more down and only 3 billion places to go. I live in a major North American city and still don't have 3D maps, what now, a decade since Apple introduced 3d Maps. Not sure how Google was able to 3Dize the world so quickly and Apple is just proud to release a new 3D city a few times a year. Forstall Took the brunt of this but what is the excuse now?

 

[Crash0veride]

So by the time they actually release a large number of cities, the majority will be completely out of date.

 

[pmiles]

Imagine all the AR widgets that will pop up... Godzilla destroying the capital building... who would have thought maps would turn into a game!

 

[satchmo]

It looks cool but why not focus resources on Apple Maps' Look Around? I would think that feature would be more useful.

 

[Altivec88]

It looks cool but why not focus resources on Apple Maps' Look Around? I would think that feature would be more useful.

Absolutely. The point is Google had both done many many years ago. Why can't Apple achieve both. Showing me a beautiful map of one place doesn't mean much to the rest of the world. They either do maps or they don't. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for 10 years but now this is getting embarrassing. Its not like they don't have the money to throw more resources at this. Get it done or get out. Heads need to start rolling.

 

[kirky29]

Ah, couple of monuments done. Maps team can take the rest of the year off! Good work guys!

 

[SBlue1]

What's the point of releasing just one city each quarter? Is there just one part time designer working on this??? What is Apples goal? To have all of the 32 NFL cities covered by the end of the decade?! They should release ten cities across the world each day! How hard is it to pay a whole team of artists to speed things up. Pathetic.

 

[dannyyankou]

It looks cool but why not focus resources on Apple Maps' Look Around? I would think that feature would be more useful.

They've been rolling it out to a lot more places lately, like suburbs of big cities.

 

[harriska2]

I find it funny that I’ve seen Apple map cars in major cities and my own town more than once, years ago, yet no street level map. Seems like a waste of money to make maps and not use them only to have them outdated.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

After seeing that special on Netflix about Google stealing Google Earth from ze Germans, I'd like to see their ultimate idea actually come to fruition, of an integrated 3d space, with all the various overlays of properties corresponding to reality and tie in business info, inventory availability, ordering, personas, public & private spaces, game environments, everything. Moderated, user-moderated & unmoderated spaces... Really just finally build it from the ground up. Give those VR Glasses something to look at.

Let the guys restart their design business and bring them on even as consultants, but make something good come of it.

 

[joesegh]

1 more down and only 3 billion places to go. I live in a major North American city and still don't have 3D maps, what now, a decade since Apple introduced 3d Maps. Not sure how Google was able to 3Dize the world so quickly and Apple is just proud to release a new 3D city a few times a year. Forstall Took the brunt of this but what is the excuse now?

Do you even use Apple Maps? Every place in the US has 3D buildings now, including small towns, and has since Apple rolled out the new map from 2018-2020. 3D buildings are available everywhere the new map is, which presently includes Canada, the UK, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. They are not as fast at rolling out the new map I and many Apple Maps fans would hope, but that's unrelated to this update.

What is being released today are more detailed 3D models and the new "city experience" and yes, they are only available in now five metros (NYC, LA, SF, London, and now DC). Google Maps similarly has more details maps of some cities, which for example will have detailed crosswalk info, but that is also relatively uncommon (Google has it in NYC, not in DC, for example).

Here's info on the "equivalent" Google feature, and it only covers four metros presently: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/10311344?hl=en

 

[newbmacuser2021]

To comment on the Maps feature in 3D…

A 3D app or game ultimately displays a series of 2D images. The engine draws a bitmap on a canvas. A movie with real people is a bunch of 2D images played in succession.

The reason 3D engines are preferred is because the math in Vector3 or Vector4 reduces motion sickness.

So it’s difficult to say, from a screen shot, whether the Maps app is 3D or pseudo-3D.

If the 3D app causes motion sickness, it’s probably not a 3D engine. Although it might be…

 

[wigby]

So by the time they actually release a large number of cities, the majority will be completely out of date.

Cities are released as iOS bundles but the data within each city is updated in Maps as they are updated by the cities, satellite or drive-by data.

 

[guzhogi]

Hopefully, they'll get Chicago soon. Before COVID, I'd also go to a different city each year for a national union convention. Would be nice to have this extra detail in those cities once COVID is done.

 

[wigby]

Absolutely. The point is Google had both done many many years ago. Why can't Apple achieve both. Showing me a beautiful map of one place doesn't mean much to the rest of the world. They either do maps or they don't. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for 10 years but now this is getting embarrassing. Its not like they don't have the money to throw more resources at this. Get it done or get out. Heads need to start rolling.

Google's Street View was launched in 2007, the same year that iPhone was announced so they have a huge lead on Apple. These monuments Apple added are only for the most special or visited ones in the most visited cities. Why would you expect them to rollout monuments all over the world all at once? I doubt they will even add many more because it's just a neat eye candy flourish and adds no real value to navigation.

 

[ThaGoochiestMane]

I'm all for the jokes, but idk why people had higher expectations?

The iOS team takes their sweet time to bring along features too...

 

[entropys]

The best approach is to underpromise and over deliver.
Not promise and fail to deliver.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I find it funny that I’ve seen Apple map cars in major cities and my own town more than once, years ago, yet no street level map. Seems like a waste of money to make maps and not use them only to have them outdated.

Maybe the driver forgot to hit the REC button.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Maps is one of the first-party Apple apps on my devices that I just plain ignore.

I use Waze for navigation, and Google Maps for everything else.

 

[cpnotebook80]

Why can't we use real 3d of the places which is more current. We already do. Not a fan of these cartoonish 3d models.

 

[modusoul]

I put on for my city..

 

[haruhiko]

Maybe Apple should better support maps in Hong Kong…

 

[211]

Apple has done a great job with 3D landmarks in London, UK. Also, I haven’t had any problems with driving, mass transit and walking directions. Further than London, the national rail and road information has also been good. I much prefer the look of  Maps and the link with  Watch is super helpful.

I say the issue is the slow expansion of this level of information and data to the rest of the country/world. The biggest issue is trust in  Maps. People still don’t trust it since its disastrous debut. Apple could do more to promote  Maps than just its keynotes