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"Apple" satellite images newer than "Google"

J

jackal123uk

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 13, 2007
69
3
England
Haven't seen any mention of this on the other threads but it is certainly true for regions of the UK.

For example, over the Portsmouth area Apple maps show mid-2011 whereas the house I moved into in 2009 hasn't even had the foundations laid in Google's - I'd estimate circa 2007; a difference of 4 years. Has anyone else noticed this elsewhere?

I'll reiterate the comments made elsewhere about the lower resolution of Apple's images but I think it's also been mentioned that Apple may be intentionally withholding higher resolution imagery in the beta - makes sense to limit the strain on their servers. Considering the advances in technology etc in the intervening 4 years (see above) I think it's safe to assume that Apple may well have access to higher resolution imagery than Google. Thoughts?
 
I notice Google seems to update images here in NY about every 1 to 2 years. And I might see a Google car or bike once every couple months.
 
jackal123uk said:
I think it's safe to assume that Apple may well have access to higher resolution imagery than Google. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

jumptoconclusions2xk14.jpg
 
LIVEFRMNYC said:
I notice Google seems to update images here in NY about every 1 to 2 years. And I might see a Google car or bike once every couple months.
Click to expand...

I would have thought the US would get more frequent updates - especially the bigger cities - than perhaps Europe might. I've just noticed the Google imagery for Sheffield, England is only 1-2 years old and probably less that a year behind that of Apple. It might be the case that larger urban areas in the UK are updated more frequently also.

I wasn't jumping to conclusions as in maps in iOS 6 will be of higher resolution than Google maps, more rationalising that a 2011 ariel photo will be of a higher resolution than a 2007 one. Obviously what's been said above about update frequency makes it a moot point.

I'm still interested if anyone else has noticed if Apple's source of ariel maps is newer/older than Google's.
 
I would like to say both maps use satellite images from other mapping companies, at least for a certain portion of their satellite maps.

Google satellite view of Portsmouth, UK uses maps from Digital Globe, GeoEye, Getmapping, among others. So I guess it's dependent on which company the Maps were sourced from. In this case it looks like Apple has sourced its maps from a company that updated its maps more recently than Google's sources did.

The 45 degree view in Google though is its own creation with its own planes, though I'm not 100% sure.
 
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