Abstract:
After pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) completing the related name change, Apple Maps now labels Lake Ontario as "American Lake" for U.S. users. This update to Apple Maps has drawn it into the dispute between the United States and Canada over the name of the Great Lakes. Trump previously pushed to change the name of one of the Great Lakes and contacted Apple to ask it to adjust the map label simultaneously. Now, when users search for "Lake Ontario" within the United States, the map page will display "American Lakes."
In the early stages of the update, Apple Maps experienced a transitional display error: when searching for "American Lakes", Lake Ontario was still displayed on the map, but the search result name had changed to American Lakes.
The name change was carried out after the U.S. Geographic Names Information System officially completed the name change. Google Maps has previously updated relevant annotations based on this change. Apple has been relatively slow to adjust, but has received push from the White House. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgham said on August 31 that Trump had communicated with Apple about the name change.
Apple Maps and Google Maps are not the only platforms involved in this naming controversy. Ontario Premier Doug Ford also displayed a road sign reading "Lake Ontario" near Grimsby, Ont.
However, this name change may not take effect for all Apple Maps users. The previous change of "Gulf of Mexico" to "Gulf of the United States" suggests that Apple may display different names depending on the user's region.
In January 2025, under Trump's promotion, the Gulf of Mexico was renamed the "U.S. Gulf". Apple also did not immediately adopt the new name and updated it later. However, users in different countries and regions will see different labels: users in Mexico will still see "Gulf of Mexico", while other countries and regions may display "Gulf of Mexico" with "Gulf of the United States" in parentheses.
At present, the name "American Lake" is still in the gradual push stage, but Apple is likely to refer to the previous update of "American Bay" and adopt different display strategies according to the user's region.
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