Apple confirms vans are for mapping data, reveals future locations they will be driving

One of Apple's sensor-laden vans, spotted in Hawaii by AppleInsider reader matthawaii.

Apple has officially brought to an end the speculation surrounding its formerly secretive mapping vans, revealing that the vehicles are collecting data for future Apple Maps updates, and also emphasizing both privacy and transparency with a list of upcoming driving locations.

A new website devoted to the Apple Maps vehicles reveals that the data being collected by the vans "will be used to improve Apple Maps." AppleInsider was first to report back in February that the equipment on the sensor-laden vans indicated they were being used to boost the quality of its mapping data, particularly for Flyover or a potential Google Street View-like option.

On its new site, Apple has placed an emphasis on privacy, ensuring users that it will blur faces and license plates on collected images before they are published.

The company has also shared a list of locations where its vans will be scanning between June 15 and June 30. The vans will be spotted in Ireland, England, and across the U.S.

The full list of locations where Apple Maps vans will be in late June are:

United States

Arizona - Pima (Tucson)
California - Alameda (Oakland), Los Angeles (Los Angeles)
Florida - Orange County (Orlando)
Georgia - Fulton (Atlanta)
Hawaii - Hawaii (Oahu)
Illinois - Cook (Chicago)
Massachusetts - Suffolk (Boston)
Michigan - Wayne (Detroit)
Missouri - St. Louis (St. Louis)
New York - New York (New York City)
Texas - Dallas (Dallas), Tarrant (Fort Worth)
Utah - Salt Lake (Salt Lake City)
Washington - King (Seattle)

England

East of England - Essex (Brentwood, Epping Forest), Hertfordshire (Broxbourne, Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn Hatfield)
Greater London - Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, City of Westminster, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth
South East - Kent (Dartford, Sevenoaks), Surrey (Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Spelthorne)
West Midlands - Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield, Perry Barr, Erdington, Ladywood, Hodge Hill, Yardley, Edgbaston, Hall Green, Selly Oak, Northfield), Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Staffordshire, Walsall, Warwickshire, Worcestershire

Ireland

Leinster - Dublin (Dublin City [Ashtown, Ballybough, Ballyfermot, Ballygall, Ballymun, Beaumont, Cabra, Chapelizod, Cherry Orchard, Clontarf, Coolock, Crumlin, Donaghmede, Drimnagh, Drumcondra, East Wall, Fairview, Finglas, Firhouse, Glasnevin, Inchicore, Irishtown, Kilbarrack, Kilmainham, Kilmore, Kimmage, Knocklyon, North Wall, Pembre, Phibsborough, Raheny, Rathfarnham, Rathgar, Rathmines, Ringsend, Sandymount, Santry, Templeogue, Terenure, The Liberties, Walkinstown, Whitehall], DÃºn Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin)

Apple's disclosure should finally bring to an end hopeful speculation that the company might be using the vans to test out autonomous driving on active roads.

Separately, Apple is believed to be working on a top-secret vehicle project near its headquarters in California. AppleInsider was first to report on a facility known as "SG5" in Sunnyvale, Calif., where the company is believed to be working on "Project Titan," obscured by a possible shell corporation dubbed "SixtyEight."

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37 Comments

richl

said about 8 years ago

Glad to see Apple copying Street View and even happier to see that they're starting with the UK. This news plus the new public transport features may get me to switch from Google Maps.

roake

said about 8 years ago

In my opinion, what is the strongest evidence so far that Apple is working on something more secret than what they are admitting. Apple just isn't in the habit of making info like this public at this stage in the game. The only realistic reason that they would do this is to throw people off the scent of something that they care about [B]even more[/B] so that it remains a secret. Since dramatically-enhanced Flyover and a potential new "Street-view" in Apple Maps is a very big deal, it stands to reason that whatever they are trying to keep under wraps is an [I]even bigger[/I] deal, and probably something that they do not wish to publicize in case they fail/decide to halt the project. I think that the project they are trying to keep hidden is very possibly the autonomously-driving car.

$Forum User frac$

frac

said about 8 years ago

Historically, the village where I used to live in Norfolk, was where Google Maps started Streetview trials. It would be neat if Apple did the same. I'd even offer my services to drive the van 8-)

theothergeoff

said about 8 years ago

@DaringFireball had Mark Gherman(sp?) on and he had sources that said that this is less about street view, and more about HighRes pictures of locations for businesses/locations of interest to replace Yelp supplied photos.

douglas bailey

said about 8 years ago

"Apple's disclosure should finally bring to an end hopeful speculation that the company might be using the vans to test out autonomous driving on active roads." Nope. You can make maps and test autonomous driving at the same time.

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