This feels uncharacteristically dumb. Which isn't to say that Apple generally makes good decisions, just differently shitty ones.

There is. Use a different map provider.

I agree.

I can accept the idea of charging insane prices for hardware if that means you get a good product in return, which seems to have been the deal way back when.

The locking down of the whole ecosystem and turning users into idiots with no agency over their devices while charging fees for any app installed was shitty, but somehow stayed true to the general ideas of Apple. Reasonably good products if you don't mind being a sucker.

This on the other hand is pure enshittification, allowing your product to become more crap in order to maximise profit. Once they start doing that they're no different from Google.

OSM.
CoMaps
Organic maps.

I’ve been using Organic Maps on iPhone and it’s been fantastic so far.

Apple Maps navigation is worse than google’s, transit data is worse, there are fewer places of interest, street view is worse too.

I can assert this with confidence because I keep giving Apple Maps another chance after it screws me time after time. But I’d rather not use Google products and be tracked everywhere I go so I try to go back to apple’s for another chance.

What are they thinking?? What’s the point of providing an objectively inferior product and then removing the only differentiation over the better competitor?

At this point I’ll just uninstall Apple Maps and keep using google’s until OSM gets critical mass. And before anyone mentions it, I’m a contributor to OSM. But it’s not there yet.