Apple Appears to Have Acquired GPS Firm Coherent Navigation [Confirmed]
In one of its latest efforts to bolster its mapping capabilities, Apple appears to have acquired Coherent Navigation, a Bay Area GPS-related firm founded in 2008 by engineers from Stanford and Cornell.
One of Coherent Navigation's areas of focus was High Integrity GPS ("iGPS"), a system that combines signals from the traditional mid-earth orbit GPS satellites with those from the low-earth satellites of voice and data provider Iridium to offer greater accuracy and precision, higher signal integrity, and greater jam resistance. Iridium touts iGPS as having the potential to provide location information accurate to within centimeters.
A number of Coherent's key employees recently began working for Apple, including tech veteran and CEO Paul Lego in January and co-founders William Bencze and Brent Ledvina as of last month. Coherent's website has also been taken offline, but on April 30 the name servers for the domain were updated to point to Apple's servers.
It is unclear exactly what the Coherent Navigation team is working on at Apple and whether there was a specific technology Apple was interested in or if it simply wanted to apply the expertise of Coherent's employees to its own projects. Lego simply notes that he is now a member of Apple's Maps team, while Ledvina and Bencze are working in similar location engineering roles.
Coherent Navigation would be just the latest in a long string of mapping-related acquisitions Apple has made over the last several years, including the developers behind Pin Drop, Locationary, WifiSLAM, Hopstop, Embark, and Broadmap. Apple has continued to improve its mapping services since a rough transition away from Google Maps with the release of iOS 6 in 2012, with the company working to add features like transit information and perhaps Street View-like imagery to its services.
Update: Apple has given its standard confirmation statement to The New York Times.
“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” the company said.
No other details on the deal have been released.
Popular Stories
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more.
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display.
Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items.
The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information.
Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen.
Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting.
The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue.
Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season.
Note: MacRumors is...
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store.
The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump.
...
