A big Apple Maps upgrade is coming to Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan

Apple Maps Transit Iphone X Hero Resized
(Image credit: Joseph Keller / iMore)

Apple Maps users in Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan can look forward to a big upgrade in the mapping data and experiences that they will have access to soon according to a new report.

Apple continues to roll out an updated Maps experience in multiple countries with three more reportedly already undergoing testing of what will surely be a big upgrade over what those users have been using to date.

The Apple Maps experience has improved dramatically in recent years and the upgrades will be particularly noticeable for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in those countries.

Coming soon

Apple's testing of the new Maps expansion into Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan was spotted by Justin O’Beirne, someone who has become the go-to source of information relating to Apple's mapping software.

"On May 2, 2022, Apple began publicly testing its next expansion: Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan," O'Beirne said on his website. "This is the nineteenth time Apple has expanded its new map data since its public launch in September 2018."

That September 2018 launch brought with it a number of improvements that were designed to close the gap between Apple Maps and Google Maps. Those changes include Flyover, a feature that gives people the chance to fly over some of the world's most famous landmarks. Look Around was another addition and one that will be immediately familiar to fans of Google Maps' Street View.

It isn't yet clear exactly which features will make their way to Hong Kong, Slovakia, and Taiwan and their various towns and cities — not all features are available in all areas where the new maps are available.

With Apple currently testing the new maps in those countries it's thought that the full launch will likely be at some point in June 2023. Apple will very likely share full details of which features are available once the upgrade is live, too.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.