From today, Apple Maps looks a lot more like a video game — in the best way possible. Singapore becomes the first city in Southeast Asia to get Apple’s Detailed City Experience, a visual overhaul that brings more realism, more context, and — if you buy into it — a stronger stance on privacy.
At its core, the Detailed City Experience is a visually pleasing layer of polish. It includes visual enhancements like road markings, medians, turn lanes, and crosswalks, as well as custom-designed 3D landmarks including Gardens by the Bay, Fullerton Hotel and the National Gallery. Roads even slope to reflect elevation — and yes, you’ll even see the iconic Ten Square building with its supercars stacked up in 3D.
‘Subparcars’ (sorry) in regular multi-storey carparks, however, won’t get the same treatment; as of now, only select buildings will be getting this polish — understandably so — and at the end of the day, it’s more like an easter egg, cherry on top and all of that stuff.
The real benefit of the extra detailing lies in the driving experience. At complex junctions, Maps now switches to a windshield view that shows road-level guidance, helping drivers see critical highway entrances or exits early. The 3D perspective and clean interface are designed to reduce ambiguity, especially for newer drivers or those unfamiliar with local road layouts. There’s also a new moonlit glow that activates in night mode for added clarity without harsh contrast.
Before — and after
Apple’s latest upgrade won’t close the gap with Google, but it strengthens the foundation for more immersive features like Look Around, AR walking directions — and perhaps eventually, Vision Pro’s spatial computing (speculative, of course)? Another perk is Apple’s usual promise of privacy — a value it continues to double down on, even if it’s not top of mind for most users. Apple processes data anonymously, often on-device, which partially explains the absence of crowdsourced discovery features.
In Singapore, where Google Maps remains the default for most, this update won’t shift the tide. For some, the visual upgrade might just give drivers a reason to reconsider using Apple Maps — especially if they’ve written it off in the past. At the very least, it’ll show you which roads to avoid this National Day.
