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- Apple Maps is getting a huge Flyover visual upgrade
- It will use Vision Intelligence and aerial imagery to create detailed 3D models of city landscapes
- It looks like Apple has also adopted Gaussian Splatting to help render its 3D models
Apple’s upcoming iOS 27 upgrade isn't just about fancy new AI upgrades like the new Siri voice assistant — but Apple Maps is also getting quite a noticeable revamp.
During its WWDC 2026 keynote, Apple took a moment to shine a light on the new visual upgrade for the Flyover tool in Apple Maps, which allows you to view over 350 global cities in 3D from a bird's eye perspective. In iOS 27, Flyover will display buildings and natural landscapes alike using a combination of aerial imagery and Apple’s own Vision Intelligence models to produce 3D views that are even more detailed.
Though Apple didn’t go into further detail, the images used in the WWDC presentation suggest that the company has also adopted Gaussian Splatting to create its 3D landscapes, a graphics technique that uses video footage as the foundation to build a 3D framework. The tool could really give Apple a huge leg-up over Google Maps, which still uses photogrammetry to generate its own 3D models.
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It’s not a theory that’s completely out of the question; there are users out there who have also pointed this out after seeing the newly rendered imagery in Apple’s keynote (see below).
holy crap! apple just beat google to the punch -- 3d gaussian splatting is coming to apple maps.these 3d scenes are made from oblique aerial imagery. but unlike blobby photogrammetry -- no more broccoli trees, no more melted powerlines -- ground level detail that actually holds… pic.twitter.com/Iv95I3yfbjJune 8, 2026
Flyover’s enhanced imagery is designed to bring out every visual aspect of Apple Map’s 3D aerial views, including the nitty gritty parts that go unnoticed. Speaking at WWDC, Vice President of OS Program Management, Stacey Ford, shared the following: “From beautiful architectural details to the shapes of individual trees, to the way light reflects off the glass of skyscrapers, you’ll see cities around the world like never before”.
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The update is quite a big technical shift for Apple Maps, and will join other upgrades from macOS Golden Gate, to custom AirPods EQ adjustments in iOS 27. The only downside is that you’ll have to wait a bit to test out Flyover’s new look, as iOS 27 is expected to roll out publicly in September — but you can register as a developer and download the first iOS 27 beta now.
Although there’s still a few months left to wait, users have spotted signs that Apple is tinkering with Flyover ahead of the wider iOS 27 rollout.
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When the announcement was shared to the r/AppleMaps community on Reddit, users flocked to the comments to share more theories. One user believes Apple is conducting a “weird rollout”, who says that switching to iOS 27 reverts previously-supported cities to low-quality satellite images, while newly-supported cities receive the visual upgrade.
From the user’s experience, they recall seeing a handful of US locations including San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and Phoenix revert to 2D, as well as international cities such as Sydney, Paris, and Stockholm. On the other hand, Vegas, London, Berlin, Barcelona, and others have been upgraded.
At the moment it’s still very much a guessing game, and Apple probably won’t provide further information until we get closer to the wider iOS 27 launch later this year. That said, Apple’s move from photogrammetry to Gaussian Splatting marks a big shift in digital map rendering, and now we’re just waiting for Google Maps to follow suit.
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TOPICS Apple Google Maps WWDC
Rowan DaviesSocial Links NavigationEditorial Associate Rowan is an Editorial Associate and Apprentice Writer for TechRadar. A recent addition to the news team, he is involved in generating stories for topics that spread across TechRadar's categories. His interests in audio tech and knowledge in entertainment culture help bring the latest updates in tech news to our readers.
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