Mexico has become the first Latin American country to receive official coverage from Apple Maps. Apple had confirmed that it was mapping part of the country to Mexican media at the end of May 2022, but it was not until now that the American company had launched coverage.
Unfortunately, Apple Look Around is taking a long time to launch coverage for this region. For the time being, the company has deployed Apple vehicles in Puerto Rico since 2019 and Brazil in 2023, but it was not until now that the mapping subdivision finally decided to launch coverage in a Latin American country.
This gives us hope that future areas in other countries will finally be published. The coverage extends across several areas from the island of Cozumel in Quintana Roo to Tijuana on the US border.
Driving in Mexico
The first cities to receive coverage
The first phase of the Look Around project began in Mexico City between September and December 2022. In late 2022, Apple sent vehicles to photograph the Cuernavaca metropolitan area in Morelos for the first time. Subsequently, in early 2023, Apple will begin deploying its vehicles to cities in Edomex, including streets in Ecatepec and Toluca de Lerdo.
In February 2023, Apple will photograph the metropolitan areas of Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza in Puebla and Morelia in Michoacán. In addition, part of the Monterrey metropolitan area in the north of the country was also covered during this period.
Expanding into more areas
Starting in March 2023, Apple will begin photographing much of the Baja California peninsula, including imagery in Cabo San Lucas and La Paz. Later in April, the vehicles photographed areas located on the US border, including Tijuana.
During this time, Apple also sent mapping vehicles to Puerto Vallarta in Western Jalisco.
In June 2023, Apple vehicles take a ferry in Quintana Roo to photograph Cozumel Island, a popular tourist destination. Apple also significantly expanded coverage in the Yucatán Peninsula, adding much of Mérida that month. Later in July, Apple would photograph Chetumal, a port located in Quintana Roo near the border with Belize and home to several Mayan archaeological sites.
Into the South
Throughout 2024, Apple would begin photographing more areas of the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. Interestingly, the company had prioritized filming Puerto Escondido on the coast of Oaxaca in July 2023, but it was only a year later that Apple decided to photograph the metropolitan area of Oaxaca de Juárez, the state capital.
In May 2024, the Apple Maps team will begin photographing the area around the port of Zihuatanejo. It is interesting to see that the Apple Look Around team has prioritized this location over the state capital of Guerrero or even Acapulco.
Using backpacks
Starting in 2023, Apple used special backpacks to photograph several urban parks in Mexican cities, including Alameda Mariano Escobedo in Monterrey, Plaza de Armas in Guadalajara, and Bosque de Chapultepec in Mexico City.
