- Apple Maps is getting a big Flyover visual update
- You will use Vision Intelligence and aerial imagery to create detailed 3D models of urban landscapes.
- It seems that Apple has also adopted Gaussian Splatting to help render its 3D models.
Apple’s upcoming iOS 27 update isn’t just about fancy new AI updates like the new Siri voice assistant, but Apple Maps is also getting a pretty notable revamp.
During its WWDC 2026 keynote, Apple took a moment to shed light on the new visual update to the Flyover tool in Apple Maps, which allows you to view more than 350 global cities in 3D from an aerial perspective. In iOS 27, Flyover will display buildings and natural landscapes alike using a combination of aerial imagery and Apple’s Vision Intelligence models to produce 3D views that are even more detailed.
Although Apple did not go into further details, the images used in the The WWDC presentation suggests that the company has also adopted Gaussian Splatting to create its 3D landscapes, a graphics technique that uses video sequences as a basis to build a 3D framework. The tool could really give Apple a big advantage over Google Maps, which still uses photogrammetry to generate its own 3D models.
It is not a theory that is completely ruled out; There are users who have also pointed this out after seeing the newly rendered images in Apple’s keynote (see below).
holy shit! Apple just beat Google: 3D Gaussian scatter is coming to Apple Maps. These 3D scenes are made from oblique aerial images. but unlike spot photogrammetry (no more broccoli trees, no more melted power lines), ground-level details actually remain… pic.twitter.com/Iv95I3yfbjJune 8, 2026
Flyover’s enhanced images are designed to highlight all the visual aspects of Apple Map’s 3D aerial views, including the essential parts that go unnoticed. Speaking at WWDC, SO Vice President of Program Management Stacey Ford shared: “From beautiful architectural details to the shapes of individual trees and the way light reflects off the glass of skyscrapers, you will see cities around the world like never before.”
The update is a pretty big technical change for Apple Maps and will join other updates from macOS Golden Gate to custom AirPods equalizer settings in iOS 27. The only downside is that you’ll have to wait a bit to try out Flyover’s new look, as iOS 27 is expected to launch publicly in September, but you can sign up as a developer and download the first iOS 27 beta now.
Although there are still a few months to wait, users have spotted signs that Apple is tweaking Flyover ahead of the broader release of iOS 27.
When the announcement was shared with the r/AppleMaps community on Reddit, users flocked to the comments to share more theories. One user believes Apple is carrying out a “strange rollout,” saying that moving to iOS 27 causes cities that previously supported satellite imagery to be low-quality, while newly supported cities receive the visual upgrade.
Based on user experience, he remembers seeing a handful of US locations, including San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Phoenix, return 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 updated.
For now, it’s still a guessing game, and Apple probably won’t provide more information until we get closer to the broader release of iOS 27 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 do the same.
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