Apple has rolled out its Apple Maps feature to three more countries. The Apple Maps feature is now available to 16 countries in total. 

The tech giant started the process of creating its own mapping data in 2018, and the latest expansion covers Monaco, New Zealand, and France. 

The new map data offers more detail in 2D and 3D representations, with the main difference being the buildings and their designs. 

Apple Expands Apple Maps

According to MacRumors, the tech giant first announced that it was starting again with its mapping data with the release of iOS 12 back in 2018.

The first area to be remapped was San Francisco and the Bay Area, and Maps was eventually expanded to Northern California.  

Apple SVP Eddy Cue, who now manages Apple Maps, said in an interview that the department had decided to upgrade the maps after six years to be able to fix the issues that they had when they first introduced it. 

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Cue said that when Apple launched Apple Maps, a lot of it was "all about directions and getting to a certain place." It is also all about finding the place and getting directions to the destination. 

Cue added that they had made a massive investment of making millions of changes, adding several locations, updating the map, and changing it frequently over the past six years. 

The advantages of the new mapping system include the ability to correct and update data in real-time. Cue said the new Apple Maps infrastructure would allow the tech giant to address road work and corrections faster than the current version. 

The new Apple Maps will also be the first version to use data collected by the Maps vans that have been driving across the country for the past six years. 

According to TechCrunch, each of the vans is equipped with a Mac Pro, several solid-state drivers, and an iPad. This is in addition to the GPS, LiDAR array, and high-resolution cameras. 

Apple completed the remapping of the United States in 2020 and has added 15 new countries and territories since. Further improvements in iOS 15 were also added, including augmented reality for select cities. 

New Details on Apple Maps

With iOS 15, Apple Maps got the biggest update ever with a city experience that offers rich details, driving routes with better navigation, immersive walking directions via augmented reality, and more. 

The update is now available in Los Angeles, London, New York City, and San Francisco, and the tech giant has confirmed that there will be more cities to come. 

Apple Maps Coverage

According to NZ Herald, it took Apple 39 days of public testing before rolling out the Apple Maps feature to France, New Zealand, and Monaco.  

Now, the feature is available to 16 countries and territories, including the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Australia, Andorra, Germany, Singapore, Monaco, France, and New Zealand. 

According to 9to5Mac, Apple is preparing to add more countries and territories in iOS 16, including Belgium, Liechtenstein, Israel, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian Territories, and Switzerland.

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Written by Sophie Webster