Apple Rolls Out 3D Maps With Custom-Designed Landmarks in Washington, D.C. and San Diego [Updated]

Apple today announced that a new 3D map of Washington, D.C. in the Apple Maps app will allow users to explore the city's landmarks and memorials, such as the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The new mapping experience does not appear to be visible yet, but it likely will be soon.

apple maps 3d washington dc
Alongside the release of iOS 15 in September, Apple Maps gained new 3D maps with more detail and custom-designed landmarks in select cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and London. Apple said the 3D maps would be rolled out to additional cities later this year, including Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., and Apple previewed the feature in Washington, D.C. today in honor of Veterans Day.

Apple is honoring Veterans Day with special content in the App Store, Apple Books app, Apple TV app, and more. There is also a Veterans Day-themed Activity Challenge that Apple Watch users in the U.S. can complete by recording any workout for 11 minutes or longer today with the Workout app or any app that adds workouts to the Health app.

veterans day 2021 activity challenge
Apple CEO Tim Cook today tweeted that he is "grateful today and always for the dedication and service of our veterans and their families, and the invaluable experience they bring long after they have left the military, including here at Apple."

Update Nov 12 10:00 a.m.: The new 3D map experience is live not only in Washington, D.C., but also in San Diego.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
ipad blue prime day

iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition

Wednesday December 10, 2025 12:22 pm PST by
The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup. Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and...
studio display purple

Apple Studio Display 2 Code Hints at 120Hz ProMotion, HDR, A19 Chip

Thursday December 11, 2025 4:19 am PST by
Apple's next-generation Studio Display is expected to arrive early next year, and a new report allegedly provides a couple more details on the external monitor's capabilities. According to internal Apple code seen by Macworld, the new external display will feature a variable refresh rate capable of up to 120Hz – aka ProMotion – as well as support for HDR content. The current Studio...

Top Rated Comments

Altivec88 Avatar
53 months ago
1 more down and only 3 billion places to go. I live in a major North American city and still don't have 3D maps, what now, a decade since Apple introduced 3d Maps. Not sure how Google was able to 3Dize the world so quickly and Apple is just proud to release a new 3D city a few times a year. Forstall Took the brunt of this but what is the excuse now?
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Crash0veride Avatar
53 months ago
So by the time they actually release a large number of cities, the majority will be completely out of date.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kirky29 Avatar
53 months ago
Ah, couple of monuments done. Maps team can take the rest of the year off! Good work guys!
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
53 months ago
Very lovely! 3D Maps, it’s only getting better.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SBlue1 Avatar
53 months ago
What's the point of releasing just one city each quarter? Is there just one part time designer working on this??? What is Apples goal? To have all of the 32 NFL cities covered by the end of the decade?! They should release ten cities across the world each day! How hard is it to pay a whole team of artists to speed things up. Pathetic.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joesegh Avatar
53 months ago

1 more down and only 3 billion places to go. I live in a major North American city and still don't have 3D maps, what now, a decade since Apple introduced 3d Maps. Not sure how Google was able to 3Dize the world so quickly and Apple is just proud to release a new 3D city a few times a year. Forstall Took the brunt of this but what is the excuse now?
Do you even use Apple Maps? Every place in the US has 3D buildings now, including small towns, and has since Apple rolled out the new map from 2018-2020. 3D buildings are available everywhere the new map is, which presently includes Canada, the UK, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. They are not as fast at rolling out the new map I and many Apple Maps fans would hope, but that's unrelated to this update.

What is being released today are more detailed 3D models and the new "city experience" and yes, they are only available in now five metros (NYC, LA, SF, London, and now DC). Google Maps similarly has more details maps of some cities, which for example will have detailed crosswalk info, but that is also relatively uncommon (Google has it in NYC, not in DC, for example).

Here's info on the "equivalent" Google feature, and it only covers four metros presently: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/10311344?hl=en
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)