Apple Maps to power native navigation in Ford's next-generation EV platform

Apple and Ford said on July 23 that Apple Maps will power the navigation experience in Ford’s Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) Platform through a new MapKit for Automotive software development kit. Ford is the first automaker to embed Apple Maps directly into its vehicle displays.

The deal goes deeper than CarPlay, which mirrors a phone onto the dashboard. Here Apple Maps becomes the built-in navigation and data layer of the car itself. It launches with Ford’s next-generation midsize electric vehicle in 2027, priced around $30,000.

Built-in features include natural-language turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic and incident data, and EV-specific routing that preconditions the battery ahead of charging stops. CarPlay remains available on Ford vehicles alongside the native integration.

Apple Maps data will also support an enhanced version of Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system. Ford is aiming for point-to-point highway autonomy before moving toward eyes-off driving in 2028. That timeline is Ford’s stated target, not a shipped capability.

Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley said the company is “proud to embed Apple Maps’ navigation and mapping technology directly into our Universal Electric Vehicle Platform,” and Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue also welcomed the deal. Apple said the in-vehicle mapping system does not collect user location data or activity tied to individual identities — a privacy claim that is Apple’s own and central to how it is positioning the automotive product.

For Apple, the deal extends its footprint in the car after years of CarPlay tension with automakers wary of ceding the dashboard, and after Apple shelved its own vehicle project. Whether Apple Maps as a safety-relevant data source for a driver-assistance system holds up is the harder question the 2027 launch will start to answer.