rk911 wrote:
my only experience is with apple products and i confess to not being up on the newer products. that being said when i earned my sport pilot certificate i purchased an iPad to use in the cockpit. my research showed me that if i wanted to be able to use it while in flight i needed the cellular version otherwise i'd have no GPS functionality. on the ground i use the google maps app as my GPS. as far as i know nothing has changed.
Either that was some time ago or you were misinformed. A wi-fi only iPad makes a phenomenal GPS / flight information choice. For not much money a Bad Elf GPS dongle gives an iPad (mini or full size) full autonomous GPS capabilities with a database like Co-Pilot loaded.
Try closing a flight plan or getting live (tethered to my iPhone) colour weather radar on a stand alone GPS device,