dan28088 wrote:
Should have commented that I was aware of the Spec page - yes, something very similar was available for the first iPad - but it didn't list the disabled featuers / apps.
Thus the point of my question. According to the spec list as provided by that page truly the only differences are those with Wireless vs Cellular, assisted GPS and Cellular (for the WiFi + 4G option).
Just trying to be fully aware of what unmentioned whistles or bells might be curtailed.
Why are you using terms like 'disabled' and 'curtailed'. If you order a car without a/c, it doesn't come with a/c 'disabled', it comes without it installed. If you order your car without a navigation system, the nav system isn't 'curtailed', it isn't there at all.
The specs are in fact the answer, and the differences are the ones you've pointed out:
- The 3G/4G models can use cellur data streams, the wifi-only models cannot.
- The 3G/4G models have A/GPS installed, the wifi-only models do not
Having and not having GPS leads to obvious differences in capabilities when it comes to things like turn by turn navigation, which you simply can't do in any realistic way with a wifi machine. "Location services" still work for those models, but you're using data from an IP location database which can be, and frequently will be, stale and out of date. Most mapping apps don't work in the absence of a net connection, which you could view as another limitation of the wifi models, but of course these are only seen as limitations by those who actually need those particular features.
Besides the above, the only other real difference I can think of has to do with time, the built-in clock. Only the 3G/4G models have the ability to set/reset their clocks using cellular data. The clocks in all iPads will generally drift off over time but the 3G/4G ones will reset to correct time as soon as they communicate with any cellular node; the wifi models need to have it done manually.
