• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, March 8, 2012

As if the latest iPad isn’t bad enough for Google, Apple is now reportedly dropping Google Maps from its various services.

“OpenStreetMap has … revealed that [Apple] has begun using its open-sourced mapping data instead of relying on its partnership with Google,” The Next Web reports.

“As Apple and Google continue to distance themselves from each other, Apple is clearly moving to bring its mapping needs in-house,” writes 9to5Mac.

What’s more, Apple is just the latest major Maps partner to cut and run. At the beginning of the month, news broke that Foursquare was dropping Google’s API in favor of OpenStreetMaps.

That said, Apple doesn’t appear to be cutting all ties with Google Maps. “What I’m hearing now is that Places still uses Google Maps, but the maps in Journals and slideshows are not using Google Maps, and are Apple’s own stuff,” reports Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber.

“What appears to be happening here is a ‘toe in the water’ approach, as Apple begins to replace Google Maps in select cases -- perhaps to ease its users into seeing a product with a new look and feel,” suggests Greg Sterling in Marketing Land. “But it does appear to be the start of a migration to another mapping platform.”

“Regardless of how Apple pulls off its Google Maps band-aid, it's going to happen because it has to happen,” according to Gizmodo. “These are two companies at war.”

“Google Maps are very good, but considering the frosty relationship between Apple and Google it's odd that Apple still relies on Google for such an important iPhone function,” Business Insider writes.

“Apple doesn't really need Google Maps anymore,” Gizmodo adds. “And it's only a matter of time until it severs those ties completely.”