Does iPad 2 WiFi Really Have No GPS???

Is there a reason you are telling me all of this? Or did you just feel like typing?

I have a WiFi+3G with A-GPS.

I only received this information from a helpful girl at 800-my apple, who said that she had special information about the iPad 2 available to her section. Try a call yourself, perhaps, and Apple may decide to modify the specs page.

Your helpful girl at that number was incorrect, there is no GPS chip in the WiFi only model.

I have an iPad1 without 3G and even though it has not GPS chip, the location service it gets is amazingly good.

If, however, you want to do navigation outside the range of cell towers then you would need the 3G model so it can look at the GPS satellites. Its like the iPhone. The iPhone has assisted GPS, which uses cell towers to help the GPS find its location, but if there are no cell towers available it will still use the GPS to find the location. It just takes a little longer.

I believe that the iPad 1 had a GPS chip only in the 3G+WiFi model, and not in the only WiFi model, but since the iPad 2 is not yet available for examination I don't understand how one can declare the information from the girl at 800-my-Apple to be wrong, especially when she says that comes from special materials regarding the iPad 2 available only to her section and not on the Apple website. Call yourself and see if you get this same special information. Yes, the "Find My iPhone" application and similar programs used WiFi features of iPhone-iPod-iPad devices to detect a WiFi signal location which was interacting with a device to give an approximate location, a WiFi area reasonably projected in relation to the identifiable hot spot, but the GPS chip, if functional, can give a much more focused location. The girl pointed out that for either system's GPS to be functional the device had to be connected to the internet--for the WiFi only iPad 2 this would mean connection to some WiFi hot spot, either fixed or mobile (such as the MiFi). I infer that the internet connection affords the involved iPad 2 necessary data additional to the satellite information coming to the device to generate a meaningful display of GPS information.

Here you go, folks--the official support article on Location Services.

(Summary: no GPS on iPad Wifi--I see no reason why this would change on iPad 2 Wifi)

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4084

The fact that the wi-fi had to be connected to the internet pretty much gives it away, it is not GPS.

I trust the Apple website more than the folks who answer the phone unfortunately. They make mistakes so often that I will be ordering the 64 GB model next week for the price of the 32 GB model because last week both an Apple Store employee and an Apple Care employee so badly informed me about a question, Apple decided to send me a coupon code for US$100 off any purchase at the US online Apple Store of $300 or more.

I'm not going to call and bother someone at Apple just to ask a question that I can wait until after the 11th and get a definitive answer, it is just rude. I really don't see Apple one year later ordering a completely isolated chipset with a GPS radio on it just for putting it in the WiFi version, this move alone would raise the price of that model, but as we know the price did not go up. I do trust the website specs.

http://gps.about.com/od/newproducts/a/Ipad-2-GPS.htm
I do not know how accurate this is but at least it talks about the GPS for ipad 2

David.Austin.Allen wrote:
iOS devices with GPS use what is called assisted GPS because there are situations when GPS devices cannot connect to a satellite. A-GPS uses cellular towers as part of the system. A wi-fi only iPad does not have this capability.


Dah•veed

That is incorrect. Satellite access is required. A-GPS uses ground stations (cell towers) to "assist" the satellites in order to improve both the precision and the accuracy of the end result.

Señor Pedantic Statesonian, you interpret this however you wish, perhaps it is my faulty English, but this is from Apple itself regarding AGPS and my comment was an attempt to give a synopsis of the last point.

*Improving GPS Accuracy (iPad Wi-Fi + 3G)*
• GPS accuracy varies depending on the number of GPS satellites visible to the iPad. Locating all visible satellites can take several minutes, with accuracy gradually increasing over time. Use these tips to improve GPS accuracy:

• Ensure the date, time, and timezone are correctly set on the device in Settings > General > Date & Time.
Important: Incorrect settings on your computer can sync to your device. Verify the date, time, and timezone on any computer that syncs with your device.

• Verify that you have a cellular or Wi-Fi network connection. This allows the Assisted GPS (A-GPS) on the device to locate visible GPS satellites faster, in addition to providing initial location information using the Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

*• Maintain a clear view of the horizon in several directions. Keep in mind that walls, vehicle roofs, tall buildings, mountains, and other obstructions can block line of sight to GPS satellites. When this occurs, your device will automatically use Wi-Fi or cellular networks to determine your position, until the GPS satellites are visible to the device again.*

That is incorrect. Satellite access is required. A-GPS uses ground stations (cell towers) to "assist" the satellites in order to improve both the precision and the accuracy of the end result.

To be correct, A-GPS uses the cell tower locations to assist the iPad/GPS device until it can get good GPS satellite reception. It does not improve accuracy or precision.

David.Austin.Allen wrote:
• Verify that you have a cellular or Wi-Fi network connection. This allows the Assisted GPS (A-GPS) on the device to locate visible GPS satellites faster, in addition to providing initial location information using the Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

This is one characteristic of Assisted GPS.

David.Austin.Allen wrote:
• Maintain a clear view of the horizon in several directions. Keep in mind that walls, vehicle roofs, tall buildings, mountains, and other obstructions can block line of sight to GPS satellites. When this occurs, your device will automatically use Wi-Fi or cellular networks to determine your position, until the GPS satellites are visible to the device again.

The GPS (Global Positioning System) is a satellite system. If you're not using the satellites, you're not using GPS. Apple is describing a mechanism that enables location determination when GPS is not available. This mechanism does not "assist" GPS; it replaces it when the GPS (the satellites) can not be accessed.

I do not consider The Apple Company to be the authority on satellite communications but I do put faith in this organization:
http://sideshow.jpl.nasa.gov/mbh/series.html

Related trivia... The world's first communications satellite, Echo-1, had no electronics. It was an aluminized balloon, inflated while in orbit, and it functioned as a reflector in the sky.

Chris CA wrote:

That is incorrect. Satellite access is required. A-GPS uses ground stations (cell towers) to "assist" the satellites in order to improve both the precision and the accuracy of the end result.

To be correct, A-GPS uses the cell tower locations to assist the iPad/GPS device until it can get good GPS satellite reception. It does not improve accuracy or precision.

It does that as well but it also improves accuracy and precision.

Italics and bolding are mine.

According to NASA, Assisted GPS is a "service" provided by Differential GPS.

+Assisted-GPS (A-GPS) data – provides data and information about the GPS orbit and clock states that allow cellular phones to pinpoint their location on phone map applications and when making emergency 911 calls.+

+A DGPS reference station is used to continuously monitor GPS signals in a given area. Since the position of the reference station has been precisely surveyed, *any errors in the satellite signals themselves can be calculated and corrections broadcast to users in the area.*+

The following is possibly one source of the confusion.
+Another form of GPS augmentation uses a transmitter on the ground to transmit GPS-like signals. These transmitters act like pseudo-GPS satellite or "pseudolites." In situations where signals from GPS satellites are blocked or obscured, such as in urban canyons or deep valleys, pseudolites can provide an additional source of GPS signals to improve the availability of GPS service. Pseudolites may be placed in fixed or mobile locations or mobile and transmit on frequencies close to or far from GPS itself depending on local conditions.+

References:
http://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/newsandevents/newsdetails/?NewsID=1063
http://gpshome.ssc.nasa.gov/content.aspx?s=aug