Has Apple Maps closed the gap with Google Maps?

“Perhaps the biggest surprise about Apple’s new map is how small it is,” Justin O’Beirne blogs eponymously. “Four years in the making, it covers just 3.1% of the U.S.’s land area and 4.9% of its population.”
“But don’t let its size fool you — it’s a dramatically different map from before, with a staggering amount of vegetation detail,” O’Beirne writes. “But what’s really remarkable about this new vegetation detail it how deep it all goes — all the way down to the strips of grass and vegetation between roads. And inside of cloverleafs. And even around the corners of homes.”
“All of those different shades of green are different densities of trees and vegetation that Apple seems to be extracting out of its imagery. But Apple isn’t just extracting vegetation—Apple seems to be extracting any discernible shape from its imagery,” O’Beirne writes. “The new map also has building footprints it didn’t have before. And in addition to adding new building footprints, Apple is also upgrading many of the old ones — including most of San Francisco… The perimeters of Apple’s buildings are now more precise than Google’s.”
“Regardless of how Apple is creating all of its buildings and other shapes, Apple is filling its map with so many of them that Google now looks empty in comparison,” O’Beirne writes. “But only within the 3.1% of the U.S. where the new map is currently live.”
Tons more, including many before and after images, in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Betteridge’s law of headlines remains intact, but Google had better watch their backs over the long run as Apple’s new Maps look better and more precise.
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Apple has been rebuilding Maps from the ground up for years and it’s due to launch very soon – June 29, 2018