Edible Apple

It’s hardly a fiasco, but the uproar surrounding Apple’s Maps, overblown though it may have been, was not necessarily good press for Apple. At the same time, it’s not as if it really impacted sales of the iPhone 5 which moved over 5 million units on launch weekend alone.

That said, Tim Cook not too long ago issued an apology to iOS users for Maps not living up to Apple’s typically high standards. He noted that Apple would continuously be improving Maps and that they would “keep working non-stop” until Maps is worthy of being an application Apple could be proud of.

What’s more, Apple’s Map team apparently went into ‘lockdown mode’ on the weekend of the iPhone 5 launch to get the kinks out, and now about two weeks later folks are starting to notice improvements with respect to the apps vaunted Flyover mode.

First, MacRumors pointed out that New York City’s flyover imagery seems to have gotten enhanced, which is to say that it’s now operating as it’s supposed to. Below is a photo of the Statue of Liberty shown as a 3D image in flyover mode from a few days ago and a more recent version of the same photo. The difference really is night and day.

And below is another photo, courtesy of AppleInsider, which shows a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge before and after. Again, the former is Salvador Dali-esque while the one on the right is crisp and clear.

So it’s a good start. It remains to be seen though just how long it takes for Apple to work out all of the other kinks from its Mapping app, problems which include missing landmarks, buildings marked incorrectly, and by and large an insufficient amount of mapping detail compared to Google Maps.

In the meantime, we reported last week that Apple has not only been aggressively trying to recruit former Google Maps employees, but that they’re also looking for Mapping help from their vast army of retail employees.