UPDATE
Apple Pay Octopus launched June 2, 2020, older obsolete Octopus related separate posts from December 2018~March 2019 have been merged here.
UPDATE: a new Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) support mail address for Apple Pay Octopus has come to light.
The Apple Maps Transit view from a China mainland iPhone 
Echoing the 2016 Apple Maps Japan Transit launch just before Apple Pay Suica, users in mainland China report that Apple Maps Hong Kong Transit is now live again after a long absence. Details visible in 2015 disappeared and have gone online again. The updated Hong Kong information is not showing outside of mainland China yet, this may change as the service rolls out.
Hong Kong is rather unique in that Apple Maps uses 2 different map data sources for the same area, AutoNavi map data for mainland SIM iPhones, another one for non-mainland SIM iPhones. Apple Maps China Transit is only available when the user is on local carrier networks. This situation is exactly why a Apple Maps Transit team member once told me, “Hong Kong is complicated.”
This development, plus the just announced Lingnan Pass and ShenZhen Transit cards coming to Apple Pay in 2020 suggest that the long delayed Apple Pay Octopus launch is coming this year as promised. I think we can expect an announcement from Octopus Cards Limited shortly. For reference Smart Octopus in Samsung Pay was announced December 11, 2017 with a December 14 launch. It would be very interesting if Tim Cook, currently visiting Asia, was in Hong Kong for the announcement.
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