Is Apple listening to its PR department?

This morning, the often tight-lipped company released an apology letter in which CEO Tim Cook admits Apple “fell short” with its Maps app.

The letter, addressed to “our customers,” begins:

“At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”

Customers and critics have panned Apple’s Maps update for iOS 6—which came out with the release of the iPhone 5 last week—but as finance website TheStreet.com points out, the company flipped the script.

“There is no company on Earth that knows how to spin a negative story into good positive vibes better than Apple, and the company did it again on Friday.”

TheStreet.com referred to the apology letter as a “grand slam” for Cook.

In the letter, Cook offers a brief explanation about the update—“we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up”—and suggests a few alternatives for customers. He concludes the letter:

“Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.”

Thus far, most tech journalists have given the apology high marks. For instance, Larry Dignan, editor-in-chief of ZDNet.com, said, “Cook's apology was humble and frankly good enough to allay customers.”

The letter has been a trending topic on Twitter for much of the morning.

Despite the troublesome maps app, sales for the iPhone 5 have been swift.

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