Came across this Apple Park construction time-lapse video yesterday (embedded below). The video is from last year, is relatively high resolution, but jumpy. Obviously, this is as many frame grabs as the source data allowed. It did make me wish for both an even higher resolution, and enough images to create a single smooth animation.

Pulled me down a bit of a rabbit hole. First, I went to Google Maps and searched for Apple Park, checked out that satellite imagery. I then searched for Googleplex, to check out the satellite imagery of Google’s headquarters.

Of course, I then had to do the same thing on Apple Maps. As you’d expect, the satellite captures were from different dates, but the image resolution was relatively high. As I explored, I also realized how much of the satellite and Google street view imagery continues to be updated.

To get a better sense of this, I took a look at a giant construction project that is still underway, which may also present equipment such as used surface drills, a building in Philadelphia that will be the tallest building in the US outside of New York and Chicago. To find it, search for:

1800 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA

In Google Maps, you can see the building underway, already pretty tall. In Apple Maps, the site is still a parking map, the building not yet begun.

Not a slam at Apple Maps. I’m sure if I kept looking, I’d find major construction projects where they involved the best local contractors such as https://fdinsulation.com. I just found this interesting.