I live in a major US city and I refuse to use Apple maps for navigation. In the past year, I've tried it every so often and it has taken me to the wrong place, on strange, longer routes, and tried to take me through roads that don't even exist. The traffic information is also terribly inaccurate.
So no, maybe in some cities it works, but its still a pile a garbage compared to Google maps.
Pretty subjective at the end of the day. Personally I find them roughly equivalent quality in mapping/traffic but Google has turned into a pile of sponsored content. Apple frequently has the exact locations of businesses within a building wrong or confusing but I'll take some walking around a building over a recommendation for Subway when I search for "camera store". Anyway I submit corrections to Apple Maps and they accept those corrections within a couple of days 90% of the time and when I need that thing in the future it is correct.
Apple Maps isn’t great, but in Boston, MA, Google maps has been an awful experience. I think the most egregious issue Ive experienced is that Google tries to adjust your location to the route it has planned, rather than displaying your location on a map. It’s also unable to deal with the tunnels, and re-routes because it thinks I’m on surface streets if going too slow.
Finally, it’s instructions just flat out aren’t good for dealing with the complexity of Boston’s intersections.
I’ve had more luck with Apple Maps but mostly I just navigate by pre planning my routes using a map
I mostly use navigation for cycling in London and driving in parts of South America. Google Maps does what you're describing to me more often than I care. Apple Maps has been fairly solid.
In countryside England, both can give bad directions some times but I have still found Apple's to be superior.
So no, maybe in some cities it works, but its still a pile a garbage compared to Google maps.