Apple SKY

Technically Personal reports on some interesting code found in iOS 6 suggesting that Apple’s new mapping solution may be making its way to OS X in some form. The evidence, discovered by developer Cody Cooper, arrives by way of references to several older Intel graphics solutions for which map features such as shading are disabled.

In this XML file, there is a reference to a set of Intel based graphics chipsets for which certain features like Shading are disabled.

Cody says that older Intel chipsets are known to not support shading very well, and that’s probably why Apple wants to disable that feature on these Macs or will be software rendered.

It is unclear exactly what form Apple’s maps would take on the Mac and whether the references are simply for hooks into map-enabled apps on OS X or if there is some more significant mapping solution coming to the Mac.

Apple’s new mapping system is a key feature of iOS 6, enabling Apple to break free of the Google Maps relationship it has relied upon since the iPhone’s launch in 2007. Apple’s maps, developed in partnership with TomTom and other providers, will include integration of Siri with turn-by-turn directions, “Flyover” 3D-view imagery, and integration with Yelp for local search information.

Update: As several readers have noted, with the files being inside the iPhone simulator package, it is possible that the references are merely addressing functionality of the simulator to allow developer to test their apps without an actual device.

No.

Very interesting, thoughtful, and well explicated start for the discussion.:rolleyes:

When this happens, I’m going to use Airplay to get Flyover on my 59″ HDTV, and pretend I’m superman.

Makes sense. I can imagine something in iCloud where I look up directions on my computer, and by the time I’m in my car Siri is all ready to take me where I want to go.

This could very well be for the iOS simulator… Remember it’s not an EMULATOR, so it runs everything for an i386 platform, and it uses the Mac graphic card…

Fail bro. What you said doesn’t even make sense.

I’ll see if I can explain it better for you.
The line: Intel(R) HD Graphics
likely means that even Intel’s newer HD Graphics solutions are not considered strong enough for the needed shader support, and need to be “blacklisted” from this feature of the maps.

Still much better than: “First!”…

That’s like saying “I have tuberculosis, but at least it’s not ebola.”

Umm, there’s no big secret here folks:

Maps runs on OS X when it’s running on the iOS Simulator.

Since it obviously uses 3D hardware pretty extensively, they’re disabling/blacklisting some OpenGL features that don’t work on the crappier desktop 3D chipsets.

maps.apple.com

That image shows Intel HD Graphics being blacklisted.

As in – even blacklisting even modern current day integrated graphics (HD 4000) – i.e. the only GPU available in the new 13″ MBP?

Should that really be necessary?

When this happens, I’m going to use Airplay to get Flyover on my 59″ HDTV, and pretend I’m superman.

I laughed out loud. Hysterical haha