How to Easily Find Elevation in Apple Maps

Main points

• Apple Maps provides elevation information for walking routes, showing ascent, descent, and route steepness.
• Elevation graphics are available on iPhone/iPad, Mac and Apple Watch for navigating walking routes.
• Elevation information for major cities is also accessible on Apple Maps, but feature availability varies.

When you’re driving from A to B, it doesn’t matter how steep the route is because your car is doing all the work. However, if you’re walking, it’s useful to know how much climbing there will be, or if there will be any steep descents that can be hard on your knees.

Apple Maps provides elevation information for walking routes, which indicates how much ascent and descent you’ll need to make on your route, as well as a visual representation of the steep or gradual nature of those ascents and descents.

You can also find information about the elevation of major cities around the world in the Apple Maps app. However, not all cities have this information; it’s a bit arbitrary as to which cities have elevation information and which don’t. Here’s how to find elevation in Apple Maps.

How to find the elevation of a walking route in Apple Maps

iPhone and iPad

If multiple route options are available, you can view an elevation graph for each route, allowing you to choose a route with more or less ascent depending on the level of challenge you want to walk.

1. Open map on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Enter your destination in the box Search map fields.
3. Click car icon.
4. choose walking route.
5. You’ll see route options that include a graph showing the elevation change and the total distance you have to climb on the route.
6. Click on the graph to see a detailed view of elevation changes.
7. In addition to a bar graph showing the elevation along the route, you can also see the total ascent and descent of the route.
8. tap go Choose the route you want to use and follow the instructions.

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If you’re using Apple Maps on your Mac, when you select a walking direction, you’ll also see a graphic showing the change in elevation along the route. Just like on the iPhone and iPad, there’s a basic graph that shows the overall change in elevation, and a more detailed graph that includes information on elevation ratio and total ascent and descent.

1. Open map on your Mac.
2. In the search bar in the upper left corner of the screen, enter the location you want to navigate to.
3. You can also select a starting location if it is different from your current location.
4. Click walk icon.
5. You’ll see route options, each of which will have a graph showing how the elevation changes throughout your journey.
6. click small arrow One of the options next to it.
7. Below the graph, you’ll see the up and down totals.
8. Click I The icons next to these graphs allow you to view a more detailed graph showing your elevation throughout your journey, including the vertical scale of elevation.
9. You can use these graphics to choose a set of directions that are most suitable, whether you want a gentler walk or a more challenging walk.

apple watch

Maps are also available on Apple Watch, which is a useful way to navigate, and tactile feedback on your wrist tells you when to turn left or right, so you can keep your iPhone in your pocket. You can also see a graph showing the elevation changes along your journey, although it’s not as detailed as on your iPhone or Mac.

1. Open map on your Apple Watch.
2. Click search icon.
3. Click search field and use Doodle to enter your destination or click microphone icon to indicate your destination.
4. tap complete and select your destination from the search results.
5. Click the blue direction icon.
6. In the upper right corner of the screen, click car icon and select walk icon.
7. You’ll see route options on your Apple Watch, with a graphic display of elevation and total climb.
8. Swipe up or turn the Digital Crown to see alternative routes.
9. Click I icon to view more details about the route, including total ascent and descent.
10. Swipe up or turn the Digital Crown to see a more detailed graph of your route’s elevation changes.

How to find the elevation of major cities in Apple Maps

iPhone and iPad

If you want to know the elevation of a specific location, you can do so in Maps on iPad and iPhone, but only for a limited number of locations. You can find elevation information for many major cities, although some larger cities lack this information.

1. Open map.
2. Enter the city name in the search field.
3. Select the relevant city in the search results.
4. For some cities, you’ll see information about the city’s population, elevation, area, and distance below the navigation buttons.
5. If you don’t see this information, it doesn’t apply to that location.

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You can also view elevation information for the same location in the Maps app on your Mac. As with maps on iPhone, if you don’t see this information, the location isn’t available.

1. Open map and enter the city name in it search site.
2. Click on the appropriate city from the results.
3. On the home screen, you’ll see information about the city, including population, elevation, area, and distance.
4. If you don’t see this information, it doesn’t apply to that location.

apple watch

The same elevation information for some cities can also be found in the Maps app on Apple Watch.

1. Open map and click search icon.
2. Enter the name of the city you want to search for.
3. Select the relevant city from the search results.
4. Swipe up or turn the Digital Crown to see information about a city’s population, elevation, area, and distance.
5. If you don’t see this information, it doesn’t apply to that location.

FAQ

Q: Which cities in Apple Maps have elevation information?

There’s no clear information yet on which locations have elevation information and which don’t, but the feature is limited to large cities. Many cities with elevation information also support overpass and augmented reality walking route features, but some cities have one of these features but do not display any elevation information.

If you’re looking for a specific city, you may or may not get lucky. For example, Madrid has elevation information, but Barcelona does not.

Q: Which Apple devices support enhanced detail in Apple Maps?

Elevation information is part of the enhanced details feature in Maps. You may not be able to access enhanced details on older iPhones and iPads or Macs with Intel chips. The complete list of supported devices is as follows:

• iPhone XR
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max
• All iPhone 11 models
• All iPhone 12 models
• All iPhone 13 models
• All iPhone 14 models
• All iPhone 15 models
• iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)
• iPad mini (5th generation or later)
• iPad (8th generation or later)
• iPad Air (3rd generation or later)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (all generations)
• iPad pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation or later)

Q: Can I check my current altitude in Apple Maps?

It’s not possible to see your current altitude on the map, but you can use compass Apps on iPhone. This is one of the pre-installed Apple apps on your iPhone.Open compass app, you will see your current altitude at the bottom of the screen.