Does iPad 2 WiFi Really Have No GPS???

Michael Black wrote:

Anyone who buys a computer or other technical device WITHOUT checking the specs and ensuring that it is capable of doing what they want or need done is a foolish and careless person. Do you also buy cameras that way?

LOL, I always check things out before I buy them, but im a tech savvy user (im a software engineer by trade), and I purposely bought the iPad 1 with 3G because sussed a long time ago (when they first come out) that the WiFi only version probably didnt have a true GPS in it, I bought the 3G version and have never used a SIM card in it, but at least I have GPS, so no, i never buy that way, BUT, i know some older people who are less tech savvy who just take the stores word for it when they buy a camera, so yes, some people do do it, and by the way, they werent happy with their purchase.

I don't know if wifi only ipad has GPS or not. but I'm certain if you look at the specs it says that 3G version has A-GPS. if that says 3G version has only A-GPS, then sorry guys....it means Assisted GPS. it means you must stick to the mobile coverage. if not it can't determine location without mobile coverage. But if it has a traditional GPS built in (which is doesn’t have to do anything with 3G stuff) it will determine your location by directly connecting to at least 4 satellites.

if that says 3G version has only A-GPS, then sorry guys....it means Assisted GPS. it means you must stick to the mobile coverage. if not it can't determine location without mobile coverage.

You have no idea about what you are saying. That is not what A-GPS is. The 3G iPad has a real GPS unit in it, just as the iPhone does. Apple has explained, as already stated in this thread, that A-GPS just helps the iPad get its bearings quicker than with GPS alone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

Exactly that's what I said. Have you seen any of those said it has traditional GPS built in? You know that a-gps can work alone right?(without traditional gps built in) In that case, if both wifi and 3G models can have traditional gps or both may not. To A-GPS, it is essential to have a 3G or network to locate. But traditional gps can work alone fine. And it is pin point accurate. But it is taking time to determine the location. If it is working with A-GPS support, it is quicker. so I see no point to have or don't have a traditional gps bilt in to wifi only models if they are existed in 3G models.

Oh for God's sake, break the effing code! You can not have A-GPS without a 'traditional' GPS and no, there is nothing at all called A-GPS that doesn't have a GPS connected to it.

The wifi model can not have a GPS built into it for the very good reason .... well, among others .... but one simple reason you know it's not there is that there is no antenna for it. Period. No GPS receiver, no antenna, no GPS.

It does have location services, but they work in a totally different way which has nothing at all to do with GPS and its constellation of satellites.

Sorry, I may be wrong. But I have seen that in a Wikipedia artical, a-gps can work alone. Sorry if I wrong. And I don't really think that 3G antenna can use as GPS antenna. I have a Nokia phone with GPS. So it has 3 different antennas for wi if, 3G and for GPS. It has mentioned clearly in the user manual. "don't cover the antenna". And again I really don't know that antenna can do both jobs at once. I haven't seen iPad's GPS antenna.

I don't know if wifi only ipad has GPS or not.

I do know. It has no GPS at all.

but I'm certain if you look at the specs it says that 3G version has A-GPS. if that says 3G version has only A-GPS, then sorry guys....it means Assisted GPS. it means you must stick to the mobile coverage. if not it can't determine location without mobile coverage.

This is incorrect. Cell coverage is not required for A-GPS receivers to work with satellite data only.

But if it has a traditional GPS built in (which is doesn’t have to do anything with 3G stuff) it will determine your location by directly connecting to at least 4 satellites.

To be correct, there needs to be data from three satellites and four are required for accurate location to include elevation data. adb teh GPS doe snot talk to the satellites. and it only receives data from the satellites (one way comms).

To A-GPS, it is essential to have a 3G or network to locate

This is incorrect. Cell towers are not required at all for A-GPS devices.

The A (assisted) in A-GPS simply means it will acquire your location quicker at startup and may acquire a better position if you are in a location with poor satellite coverage (such as downtown NYC with very tall buildings).

A-GPS will work fine without any cell towers.

But traditional gps can work alone fine.

So does A-GPS.

You're replying to a post just one week short of a year old...

I'm sure somebody mentioned the following in the last 224 posts spanning 51 weeks, but what the hey:

Wifi only iPad 2 does not have GPS. Wifi+3G iPad 2 does have GPS.

Without a 3G or wifi connection to allow assisted GPS, an iPad 3G needs to be able to get a clear signal from the GPS satellites in low earth orbit. Just like every other hand held GPS device, that typically means you need to be outside with a clear view of the sky overhead. Standalone GPS devices almost never work indoors (unless righty by a large window with an unobstructed view outside) and often even have trouble outdoors in "urban canyons" like downtown NewYork City where the highrises close on either side of the street block satellite signals.

Sorry, GPS would never work if the satellites were in low earth orbit. LEO is about 1,900 km above the earth, just outside the drag of the earth's atmosphere. The Int'l Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope are in LEO. The US GPS satellites are in six orbits of 4 satellites each, about 19,000 km above the planet.

These satellites are not found in LEO, since they need to be line of site, and they would [be] obscured by the horizon far too often. So these satellites are in a middle orbit known as medium-Earth orbit or MEO. At this orbit of some 12,000 miles these satellites orbit every 12 hours on average. Allowing for the bulk of the GPS constellation to in line of site for most of the earth they are designed to cover.

http://ngriffin360.hubpages.com/hub/Geosynchronous-Satellites-Low-Earth-Orbit-GP S

Why GPS on a WiFI ipad???

For location tagging photos? Everyone seems to think GPS is only used for maps etc, but you might have a WiFi iPad and take a photo, would be nice to have the location that photo was taken at when you import it into iPhoto!

Everything you say explains perfectly why you should buy an iPad which actually has GPS installed in it, but doesn't explain at all why the wifi-only iPad should come with GPS.

You might just as well insist that all cameras should be GPS-equipped for that same reason.

Chris CA wrote:

"Found out yesterday apple said GPS in real time would like work with wifi"

What?

If you have an iPad with cell data capability, it has a GPS chip in it that works just fine regardless of whether you have a cellular or Wi-Fi data connection.

A Wi-Fi-only iPad does not have a GPS chip.

garyconrad wrote:

Found out yesterday apple said GPS in real time would like work with wifi.

Gary, I think someone was pulling your leg. Sort of like telling you to go get the "sky hook" from the supply room. Rest assured, the wifi only iPad does not contain GPS hardware and therefore can not connect to the GPS satellite system. And the supply room does not have "sky hooks".

I think that you lot misunderstand what garyconrad said. He is not saying that the Wi-Fi iPad has GPS, he is saying that for the iPad with assisted GPS, the assisting will work even when it just uses the Wi-Fi. 😎