During the opening keynote at WWDC 2012, Apple unveiled a new mapping functionality that drops Google Maps to rely on the company’s own data. The new service offers a bunch of incredible options, including turn-by-turn navigation and the 3D Flyover feature. However, it turned out last week that these features aren’t officially supported on older iOS devices, including the iPhone 4 and much less the iPhone 3GS.
Now SlashGear reports that a member of Russian website iguides has posted videos showing the 3D maps and Flyover actually functioning on a jailbroken iPhone 4. The person has also instructed viewers how to add the functionality, although the procedure still needs to be straightened out.
Historically, Apple has limited certain iOS features to the newest hardware, depending at least party on how well older device models handle the specific functionality. In other cases, such as Siri on the iPhone 4S, the company’s hardware restrictions may be more about differentiation and marketing. However, it doesn’t seem reasonable to conclude that 3D maps aren’t supported on pre-A5 products like the fourth-gen iPhone simply because they don’t meet Apple’s performance requirements.
Regardless of what prompted Apple to restrict the new mapping features to the iPhone 4S, developers and hackers will undoubtedly keep searching for ways to circumvent those limitations. In the long run, owners of older devices will likely be able to take advantage of other features like turn-by-turn navigation.
