Just a note that I published a little sample code on GitHub today.
https://github.com/HunterHillegas/HelloMapKitWorld
Nothing earth-shattering, especially if you’re familiar with MapKit and Core Data. If you’ve never used either, it might be helpful. The simple app downloads a list of locations in JSON format from the Web, parses it, inserts it in the background and pushes the results to the main thread. It then allows you to view the locations on the map.
I needed this for some training I’m doing and figured others might possibly get something out of it.