- try to make the deal with Google happen; Apple has so much money it's hard to understand why they couldn't buy their way into Google Maps for another year or two

- make a deal with someone else (Microsoft / Bing Maps, other map provider) while still working on their own, in-house solution

It's great that Apple decided to build its own map system; the problem is they released it when it was far from ready; Apple didn't use to present half-baked products to the world.