I might not be old enough to remember my parents pulling out a paper map in the car when we got lost, but I’m old enough to remember when Apple Maps was the punchline of the navigational world. I remember it sending tourists to the middle of Australia in search of a national park and putting a trench in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge, and thinking that it must be the worst map ever created. That was several years ago, though, and I’ve heard plenty of good things about Apple’s updates since then, so I figured I’d give it another chance.
With one eye on a family vacation and another on a wedding, I let Apple take the wheel to see how it stacks up against Google Maps. I decided I would use it to guide me to a campsite I’ve been to every year since I can remember (a trip where I’d know if I was being steered wrong) and then follow it up with a less familiar drive across Pennsylvania, where I’d have to trust Apple’s choices. Let’s see how it went.