This is why I asked for some sort of reference that would explain exactly how Google and Apple Maps determine distance. We're limited by the numbers available to us and current models of the Earth, but these companies have access to fairly advanced satellite technology that should be able to...
That would definitely explain the issue, but are there any references for this assumption? I wasn't aware that Google and Apple Maps did this for their distance calculations.
This seems at odds with the fact that these mapping services provide highly accurate latitude and longitude points...
Consider the following example:
Point A has coordinates 45 lat, 0 long. Point B has coordinates 45 lat, 2 long. Both points are 5000 ft above sea level. The distance between them is X.
Point C has coordinates 45 lat, 100 long. Point D has coordinates 45 lat, 102 long. Both points are at sea...