Apple Maps is now displaying the name Gulf of America for the oceanic basin known as the Gulf of Mexico.
Users in the United States can now see the new name on their devices running iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Apple, a U.S.-based company, is expected to continue to gradually roll out the new name for users around the globe.
Apple’s name change of the Gulf of Mexico follows Google and Donald Trump‘s executive order mandating the switch.
Google addressed the name change in a post on X, the microblogging platform formerly known as Twitter.
“We’ve received a few questions about naming within Google Maps. We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources,” Google posted.
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were among the tech giants who attended Trump’s inauguration.
The Associated Press announced in January that it would maintain the name the Gulf of Mexico in its Stylebook, noting that “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.” The AP will switch to referring to Denali as Mount McKinley.
Google also noted that their “longstanding practice” is that “When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name. Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.”
Apple has not publicly commented on the name change for the Gulf of Mexico.
In late January, Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, sent a letter to Google asking the company not to change the name, telling reporters in a press conference, “If a country wants to change the designation of something in the sea, it would only apply up to 12 nautical miles. It cannot apply to the rest, in this case, the Gulf of Mexico. This is what we explained in detail to Google.”
