iPad mini gps

The maps function has to get the data in addition to the GPS. If you are out and about your iPhone is doing this over the 3G data plan. It sounds like your mini doesn't have 3g/a data plan so this is probably why it isn't working when you are out.

If your iPad is wifi only, and has no cellular ability, then it does not have GPS.

http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad-mini/specs/

Not true. I was on a trip today with two wifi-only minis, both from 2012, btw, and both have GPS. They both did a good job of tracking our position on our trip as we were navigating all over the place. I thought it might be some weird coincidence at first, but I am quite sure that the mini has GPS even in the wifi only model.

Wi-Fi only iPad do not have GPS. They use crowd-sourced Wi-Fi and cell tower locations to get location.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5467

I was on the interstate in podunkville. No wifi there, and it is would be very hard to make and maintain a connection at interstate speeds traveling interstate distances. I was on a state highway in-between towns. No wifi there, either.

I thought exactly what you were thinking, until it became obvious that the only logical explanation was that it indeed has GPS.

Go grab a mini and try it. So far I've tested two. I have several more to test, yet, but I'm willing to bet that even in places where I am nowhere near wifi, I will get a marker telling me where I am.

Did you notice that Diavonex said "Wi-Fi and cell tower locations"? Most interstates and many smaller highways have cell tower service these days, at least in enough places to allow tracking.

diveFreaks wrote:

I was on the interstate in podunkville. No wifi there, and it is would be very hard to make and maintain a connection at interstate speeds traveling interstate distances. I was on a state highway in-between towns. No wifi there, either.

I thought exactly what you were thinking, until it became obvious that the only logical explanation was that it indeed has GPS.

Go grab a mini and try it. So far I've tested two. I have several more to test, yet, but I'm willing to bet that even in places where I am nowhere near wifi, I will get a marker telling me where I am.

Once again, the wifi-only iPads do not have GPS. Check the specifications.

I'm not saying you guys are full of it, but I also don't know if you have ever done emergency dispatching. Cell phone tracking is not the magic bullet you think it is. "Inexact" would be an upgrade. Even with four towers triangulating, the guess is usually not close. This was far, far better than cell phone "positioning" ever was, so either it's also somehow better than the iphone, or it's something different.

Bob, the next time you're out on a big, big lake, where there is no service, try it. I'll be messing with it later.

Wifi only means no GPS, this has been a fact long discussed in these forums.

Look at the "location" section of the following specs:

http://www.apple.com/ipad-mini/specs/

From a previous post:

A mini-education...

GPS signals are separate from and completely unrelated to both the Internet and the cellular telephone network. GPS signals come directly from the GPS satellites. They provide signals that allow GPS receivers to calculate latitude and longitude information. Navigation software then takes that latitude/longitude info and converts it to land mass, roads, bridges, highways, buildings, etc.

Most navigation software stores the maps right in the iPad/iPod/iPhone but a disadvantage is that the maps must be periodically updated (perhaps once every two years). The Internet is not required to use the system but it is required to update the maps.

Some navigation software gets the maps from the Internetand requires an Internet connection to function but an advantage is that the maps are always up-to-date.

The WiFi+3G/4G iPad and the iPhone both have a GPS receiver. The WiFi-only iPad and the iPod do not and these devices require an accessory.

Diavonex wrote:

Wi-Fi only iPad do not have GPS. They use crowd-sourced Wi-Fi and cell tower locations to get location.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5467

How does a WiFi only model detect cell towers?