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This had to hurt. Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged this morning that his company’s Maps product — which replaced Google Maps in the new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 operating system — “fell short” of his company’s standards. “We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better,” he said in a public letter. Cook’s mea culpa follows 
widespread reports across the Internet from people who became lost after relying on the Apple app for travel directions. For example, New York Times writer David Pogue wrote this week that he used his iPhone to reach a speaking engagement, but “When the app told me that I had arrived, I was sitting in a random suburban cul-de-sac.” Cook says that “The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get.” But he added that, in the meantime, they can download map apps from competitors including Bing, MapQuest, Waze, Google, and Nokia.
Related: Will Apple Be Able To Keep Up With Demand For iPhone 5?
“Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world,” Cook says. “We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.” So what do you think: Would Apple have released a product as flawed as Maps if Steve Jobs was still alive and in charge — and, if so, would he have apologized?
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I am glad that I don’t have the money to buy the new Iphone 5 because every time that the new Iphone come out that there alway problem with it. I would waited until the problem is solved.
agree 100% thats why i always get the iphone s version such as iPhone 4S and i bet the next iPhone will be iPhone 5S which is why i am waiting for the next iPhone to fix any problems the iPhone 5 has and thats why i should have waited to upgrade to IOS 6 when IOS 6.1 comes out cause then it fixes any problems with IOS 6 any new software or device has problems with it as first so its better to wait until they are fixed
The 5 is fine, it’s the software that’s at issue here.
I, too, ended up in a random area…it was near where I neede to be, but it sent me right instead if left. Sheesh!
Maybe if we all hold the phone by its top corner, the maps will work.
I don’t get it. My Samsung Galaxy SII is STILL a superior smartphone to the iPhone 5, and I’ve had it for over a year and paid less for it.
And for those who would claim Samsung violated Apple’s patents, I don’t think screen-control finger motions or the shape of icons makes or breaks a user’s smartphone experience.
It’s been nice having 4G LTE for a year or more, plus a (STILL) wider screen and NFC capability. Yeah, and Google Maps works great too!
You say, “I don’t think screen-control finger motions or the shape of icons makes or breaks a user’s smartphone experience…” I disagree. From the moment Steve Jobs swiped his finger in 2007 and the screen scrolled… the game was changed and every phone after has had that.
Much as I admire their products and brand proposition, this whole map thing is a major muddle for Tim Cook and Apple, might we be seeing a defining chink in the armour, finally a fallibility? What a mistake to move to something home-grown that is so broken. I don’t buy the line “The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get”; it’s a bit like asking users to fill in street names and report back as they go. If you type “Luton, England” into the search bar, a major town close to where I live in London it points to a field about 280 miles south west of where you should be. Hilarious. Just go back to Google until they fix it.
Wow, bummer for Apple. Actually I haven’t had any problems with it. But, I’m still keeping my Garmin. Apple seems to have this problem with certain features on each of their iterations of the iPhone, but after a while the problem is resolved and forgotten.
Jobs was not God: Apple made mistakes under his watch. In 2008 he ranted and raved at employees when Apple’s MobileMe product launch was less that satisfactory. He berated the MobileMe team, telling them that they had “tarnished Apple’s reputation,” and that they, “should hate each other for having let each other down.”
Shit happens.
It just wouldn’t have happened under Steve Jobs’ watch. Unthinkable.
Mr. Cooke,
You never apologize for a feature in progress. You instead fix it.
Tell that to Netflix.
Steve most likely wouldn’t have released it and if he did he sure as heck wouldn’t apologize for it.
Apple has a history of releasing flawed apps, OSs with bugs and imperfect hardware. So, yes this could have happened with Steve Jobs at the helm. It seems that Apple uses the early buyers to test and debug for them. I have several Apple products and have great respect for Mr. Jobs but I do think they release too quickly.
The amazing thing is that consumers are still in a frenzy to be the first to have their latest product. It’s a tribute to their marketing ability which sometimes surpasses the product itself in performance.
Well, Steve Jobs put out an iPhone with a “death grip” antenna problem. So, yes, Steve could very well have put out the faulty Apple Maps app. Would he have apologized for it? Hell no. Not in a million years. Still, what’s admiral about Steve Jobs was his adamant insistence on perfection and simplicity and having an artistic eye for product design.
Maps isn’t even close. I used it to go to a well known destination in Beverly Hills and it pointed me to Culver City. Google used it’s own resources to map everything and Apple is relying on crowd sourcing, which has no quality control at all. And even worse is how bad the Podcast app is they now make us use. It was fine before when it was inside itunes. Now it’s so bad you have to go to each individual podcast site to get what you want. With all their money and a stock price that’s at historical highs they should be investing a whole lot more in their service. It’s a pretty big crack in the armor that the android and google world can point to with legitimate reason. LIke IBM, Microsoft, General Motors before them, no company stays on top forever. Really stupid and inexcusable.
I don’t get it – I’ve been using the new Maps and I like it a lot better. I’ve had no problems at all, and its great that spoken driving directions are included now. They work great!
As visionary as Steve Jobs was, we often forget he also had misfires. Remember the infamous “death grip” that killed the signal on iPhones? He had to come out and announce Apple was giving out a free rubber case to counteract the problem.
It wasn’t the first time Jobs’ Apple released a product that wasn’t ready for prime time. When the company released the Apple /// in the early 80′s, many of the machines were dead on arrival, hobbled by designed flaws stemming from Jobs’ insistence that the machine not have a fan and marketers itching to deliver the product on time — not to mention a high price tag. Apple eventually fixed the problems, but the machine was doomed to failure.
Every great innovator has his or her share of failures. Who’s to say Jobs would’ve done things different?
When used for actual directions maps hasn’t lead me astray (yet) BUT when using it to search for a public library near my mother’s home in AZ, it pointed me to a tiny town in… Germany.
And for the jealous Samsung troll: maps is part of iOS6 not exclusive to the iPhone 5. It’s just as big a disaster on the iPhone 4 and 4S.
Agreed. Shut up and fix it. And this could have happened when Jobs was alive. As one of the above posters commmetend, MobileMe was pure shit. Technology happens. So do updates. I’m sure I will be fine in a month and everyone will forget.
Did they also apologize for the Podcasts app?
And removing them from iTunes?
Don’t have the money? It’s a few hundred bucks. If you need cash, write a screenplay and sell it. Unreal.
quality control is slacking, maybe the sweatshop workers in China need a raise Tim Crook
Google is loving this.
Apple has released many products with bugs. I own a Mac Mini that will not play movies and tv shows downloaded from iTunes without stuttering and I have taken it to the Apple store (even leaving it for a week at one point) 3 times without getting the problem fixed. A search on the internet reveals many other users with the same problem and no solution. The iPhone 4 was also not ready for prime time as others have noted. Would Steve Jobs ever have apologized for these flaws? No way.
Personally it’s always annoyed me that Apple never admitted that they were less than godlike when it came to their products, but it’s part of their brand image to be the best, coolest thing out there – that’s one of the things that drives thousands of people into stores to wait in line when they release a new product. Steve Jobs was a big part of that image as well. His death and these product problems have not impacted the launch of the iPhone 5, but it’s like the tiny crack in the dam that will just keep getting bigger if Apple continues to launch flawed products.
I don’t get it. Why does everyone seem so happy to see Apple fail? I, for one, support this American company and its successes. They’ve been very innovative over the years. They make good products. Who cares if your Samsung had LTE 13 years ago.
Apple’s corporate ethos oozes smug superiority. Its “Fan-Boy” customers often do the same. Why anyone would wait in line for hours to buy a more expensive, technologically outdated product is mind-boggling.
I have no allegiance to any particular product or manufacturer, but I do refuse to join the “me-too” crowd just because as “Dirty Harry” put it – “It’s Stylish.”
If you want to support an American company, try Microsoft. If that’s too ironic or unappetizing for you, how about HP or IBM? I know they don’t really make smartphones, but neither does Apple in the strictest sense. Are you aware of just how much of the precious iPhone is actually NOT made in America? It’s even assembled in China, when the employees are not rioting.
Steve wouldn’t have apologized, he would have pointed out the many shortcomings that have been part of every new map service. Google Maps used to blow, and depending on what part of the world you’re in (like that teeny tiny place called CHINA) is still a work in progress. Apple Maps will get better very quickly, and Google maps will begin to degrade without data provided by 100s of millions of iOS users.
What other company is held to the same standard as Apple?
By accounts in his biography, Steve was upset with Google because he had mentored one of their founders, reluctantly. Google betrayed him and he was angry with them. Hard to say about the maps feature. My guess is he would have bit his lip and continued secretly developing Maps app while keeping google maps until it was way better or have done something huge like buy Garmin. If he would apologize he also would’ve noted in some way his beef with Google. Then, he’d berate his staff internally. Ultimately, they’ll get this right and the company will move on. I love everything Apple but I’m glad there is competition out there to keep them innovating, even if sadly that competition steals. Maybe they’re playing it too safe. A dividend to investors instead of more aggressive M&A activity doesn’t look so good now. Apple needs to maintain status as revolutionaries not as evolutionaries.