Apple Maps Now Shows Indigenous Lands in Australia and New Zealand - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Maps Now Shows Indigenous Lands in Australia and New Zealand

by

Starting today, the Apple Maps app on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac now displays Indigenous lands in Australia and New Zealand, such as reserves and protected areas.

Apple Maps Indigenous Lands Australia New Zealand
In a press release, Apple said the mapping updates were informed by Indigenous peoples, cartographers, language holders, and others in each country.

In Australia, Apple said it referenced language data published by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

In New Zealand, Apple said it collaborated with local Māori tribes and Indigenous cartographers to develop detailed place cards and map icons for Indigenous lands in the country. The place cards feature information about the local area, and communities can update them with destinations, photos, and text in their own languages.

The mapping updates are available now, with no software updates required.

More details about these mapping updates, and Apple's recent community initiatives in Australia and New Zealand, can be found in Apple's press release.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Apple Maps

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple to Introduce Ads in Apple Maps as Part of Services Revenue Push

Monday March 23, 2026 2:43 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to include ads in Apple Maps search results as soon as this summer, reports Bloomberg. Apple is aiming to earn more money from its services division, and it could announce plans for Maps ads as early as this month. Ads in Apple Maps will be similar to ads in Google Maps. Retailers and brands will be able to bid for ads associated with search categories. Starbucks, for...
Read Full Article • 324 comments
Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps Feature

Apple Announces Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps

Tuesday March 24, 2026 9:22 am PDT by
As expected, Apple has officially announced that ads are coming to the Apple Maps app on the iPhone and iPad in the U.S. and Canada starting "this summer." Apple says businesses in the U.S. and Canada only will be able to place ads in search results and at the top of a new "Suggested Places" section in the app. "Ads on Maps will appear when users search in Maps, and can appear at the top...
Read Full Article • 276 comments
Ads Are Coming to Apple Maps Feature

Apple Lays Groundwork for Ads in Maps With iOS 26.5

Monday March 30, 2026 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to introduce ads to the Apple Maps app in the near future, and the iOS 26.5 beta lays the groundwork for the feature. Code in the update says the following: "Maps may show local ads based on your approximate location, current search terms, or view of the map while you search." Apple also says that a user's location and ads interacted with in Apple Maps are not linked to...
Read Full Article • 109 comments

Top Rated Comments

TokyoKiller Avatar
TokyoKiller
14 months ago

Nahh...It's more important to posture.
How is it posturing? It’s recognizing what’s really on the ground and making sure the maps reflect that as true to reality as possible.

Technology allows us to do that now and we should do it.

If one sees it as a political posturing, then the issue lies within those who see it that way than Apple simply reflecting what’s on the ground on different parts of states, nations and territories.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
WarmWinterHat
14 months ago

I don’t understand why this bothers people so much. The gulf is part of North America. It wasn’t changed to the Gulf of the United States. I’m frankly surprised we haven’t seen licensed naming rights yet, the Gulf of Coca-Cola, Mt McDonalds, etc.
In my experience and travels, Canada and Mexico calls people from the U.S. "Americans". We call ourselves "Americans." It's meant to highlight the word America. They are from north American too, but don't call themselves Americans and don't say they are from America.

The name predates the formation of the United States a couple hundred years, and it's an E.O., so no one voted on it, congress didn't have any hearings. Ruling by decree shouldn't even be a thing in the U.S., which is supposed to be a representative democracy. We don't own the gulf.

..plus, the name will be changed back as soon as Trump is out of office since executive orders have no staying power. They are a lazy tool for lazy presidents.

TLDR: It's dumb.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gknewell Avatar
gknewell
14 months ago
I like how they’ll designate these areas but still caved to the “Gulf of America” crap.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Enlightened Doggo Avatar
Enlightened Doggo
14 months ago
It's weird that nice things like this upset some people. Seems purely good.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
russell_314 Avatar
russell_314
14 months ago
That’s amazing! Maybe one day they’ll update it to show road construction in the USA 😂
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
russell_314 Avatar
russell_314
14 months ago

I like how they’ll designate these areas but still caved to the “Gulf of America” crap.
The name changed. Apple doesn’t make these decisions. They just list it on the map. It’s like if a street name was changed to something controversial, do you expect Apple Maps to say no we’re not going to change it on our map?

I was upset when they took Pluto off the list of planets, but it is what it is.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments