Apple might include a full-fledged Maps app with the next Mac OS

Nov 19, 2012 13:42 GMT  ·  By

People who are familiar with Apple’s software development are revealing that OS X 10.9 will sport at least two exciting new features that will make the Macintosh a worthy adversary to any PC.

Reliable sources speaking to 9to5mac on condition of anonymity say that “early builds of OS X 10.9 integrate Apple’s Siri voice command software much like Apple’s newest iPad models running iOS 6,” according to the site.

For the better part of its life, Siri has been an exclusive feature to the iPhone 4S. Apple has only recently added the feature to iPads and iPod touch players, thanks to the inclusion of more powerful processors and (perhaps) better microphones.

Which may also be the case with the newest iMacs and MacBooks running OS X 10.9 – Apple might use Siri as a marketing lever to move both hardware and software.

In addition to Siri, “Apple plans to integrate its so-far criticized and controversial mapping service into OS X as a framework for developers,” according to people who are reportedly familiar with early testing of OS X 10.9.

Thanks to the inclusion of a Maps API in the next Mac OS, third-party application developers will be able to embed maps into their software.

It is believed that Apple will eventually launch its own full-fledged Maps application for OS X. 9to5 carefully points out that this is mere speculation at this point.

The sources further noted that development of OS X 10.9 actually began around the same time Apple started work on OS X 10.8 — the current-selling version dubbed Mountain Lion.

Apple reportedly “worked on multiple features for its future Mac operating systems amidst the launch of the iOS-inspired OS X Lion in 2011, according to people familiar with Apple’s OS X software development [and] chose to distribute the remaining features from iOS across OS X 10.8 and 10.9.”