Apple expands its new map to three more countries

Apple Maps cycling directions
Apple Maps (Image credit: Apple)

Apple has slowly been rolling out its new map to countries around the world and today, people in three more countries will be able to enjoy the much-improved map on their iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac.

According to Apple Maps enthusiast Justin Obeirne, the company has begun rolling out its new map to three more countries: Israel, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. 

Obeirne specifically says that the company is "publicly testing its next expansion," so it's unclear if the map is available for all users in those countries just yet or only select users for now.

What's in the new map?

Obeirne took a look at the changes that the new map is bringing to the new countries. In Israel, he took a look at the changes coming to the city of Jerusalem. As you can see below, you can see just how much additional detail is coming with the update.

Apple Maps changes in Jerusalem

Apple Maps changes in Jerusalem (Image credit: Justin Obeirne)

Looking at Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, it appears that Apple is bringing at least one of its additional map features along with its new map. In addition to all of that sweet detail, as you can see below, the city is also getting the three-dimensional treatment.

Apple's 3D map in Jerusalem

Apple's 3D map in Jerusalem (Image credit: Justin Obeirne)

Obeirne notes that the new features coming to these three countries represent Apple's sixteenth expansion of its new map. The company originally announced its new map at WWDC in 2018 and launched it in California later that fall. It took until April of 2020 to roll the new map out to the rest of the United States.

Since then, it has expanded the new map to a number of other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

In addition to more detail, the new map also enables a host of features including Look Around, 3D cities, Flyover, and new ways of navigation including transit and cycling directions.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.