Apple’s New CEO Renamed a Canadian Lake on His First Day
Apple Maps now shows Lake Ontario as "Lake America" to US users, days after Google and hours into John Ternus’s tenure as CEO. Tim Cook, now executive chairman, still oversees Apple’s White House relationship. MapQuest refused the change, becoming the top free app in two countries.
The Background
John Ternus became Apple’s CEO on Tuesday. His first public decision was to rename a Canadian lake—a move that was not his own initiative.
US users of Apple Maps now see Lake Ontario labeled as "Lake America". Canadian users, however, still refer to it as Lake Ontario, and everyone else sees both names. This rollout began on Ternus’s first day and was still spreading across desktop and mobile platforms on Wednesday.
Who Made the Call?
Tim Cook stepped down as CEO on Monday but remains executive chairman. He retains responsibility for Apple’s relationship with the White House and other governments, a fact that played into this decision.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revealed that President Donald Trump had directly contacted Apple. This request arrived at the top of the company on the day of the leadership transition, landing in a portfolio still held by the outgoing CEO.
The Executive Order
Trump signed an executive order on August 27th, days after trade talks with Canada collapsed. It directs the Interior Department to change the name in the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database within 30 days. However, this order only affects federal agencies and does not bind Canada, other countries, states, or private companies. New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, has already stated her state will continue calling it Lake Ontario.
The Dispute
The underlying issue is trade tariffs. The US has imposed 50% duties on $20 billion of Canadian goods, and Canada has promised retaliatory measures.
Google led the way in renaming the lake, citing its policy of following official government sources. Apple, however, has provided no explanation for its decision. Both companies also renamed the Gulf of Mexico last year under similar circumstances, leading to a lawsuit from Mexico against Google.
MapQuest’s Defiance
MapQuest refused to change the name, instead rebuilding a tool it created during the Gulf of Mexico dispute, allowing users to rename the lake themselves. This response garnered significant attention, with Appfigures recording 80,000 iOS downloads across the US and Canada on Sunday—a stark contrast to its usual average of around 500 daily downloads. Sensor Tower reported global downloads exceeding 184,000 for the week beginning August 24th, a tenfold increase from the previous week.
MapQuest’s usage spiked to about 50 times normal levels, with August 30th marking its best day in a decade.