Since 2015, the guys from Cupertino have put into circulation a series of vehicles, with no type of identification label, beyond the word Apple (to which Maps was later added), a series of vehicles equipped with the LiDAR sensor system that have been collecting information from all the cities and states through which it has passed.
These vehicles began their journey in the United States, to later reach several European countries among which is Spain. To date, Apple has roadside information for 45 American states, with Alaska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee being the only states not scanned by Apple vehicles.
Countries outside the United States that have also received the visit of these vehicles with Spain, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Last month, Apple confirmed that all the data that is being collected as well as the images will be used in the future to launch a new Apple Maps practically from scratch with the help of high resolution satellite images and the survey data that has been collecting completely anonymously.
In this way, Apple wants to change the base of its service and maps, reducing completely, but not completely, your current dependence on external providers, as is the case with TomTom, which will allow us to know at all times the state of the traffic in real time, road conditions, construction sites, changes of directions ...
For now, all the improvements that will arrive shortly, only available in the state of North Carolina, as long as we make use of one of the available betas of iOS 12 on our iPhone or iPad. As stated by Apple a few weeks ago, the new version of Apple Maps will begin to be available throughout the United States as of next year, so the rest of the countries will have to wait a little longer, something to which we already we are used to it.