I only did it as without on the DJI fly app for the mini it would not show the dot and ring at the bottom of the screen to show the controller and direction and the drone and direction it was going in , the map was fine just missing that part, I dropped a sim in and it popped up and worked fine , but that’s just my experience, the bit about gps was explained to me by by Apple tech support as this is my first apple product.
I had the same thing with Apple , it really is not made clear and it was like pulling teeth to find out the truth about how the gps works , they should really make this clear or why not put gps on both
;o)
Wait… wait… as I’m in the process of putting an iPad mini in a shopping basket (where it will probably sit for ever more without me actually buying it) this could be useful information.
So, to be clear: the Wifi-only one has no GPS chip. The Wifi+Cellular has a GPS chip but doesn’t need the SIM to activate said chip.
Am I getting that right?
Ta 
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As I believe it … from both my brother’s experience and posts on GADC over the last (almost) three years.
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I was this close to making an expensive error! Thanks
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Mostly correct except to activate the gps you have to put a SIM card in , you don’t register it or activate it and it costs you nothing just put the SIM card in and just leave it , by having it in it switches on the gps . I got a free sim from Vodafone but they all offer free SIM cards
Me too but did loads of research and I saved me buying a WiFi only as they have no gps they have a different system. Apple just do not make this clear until pushed
Your experience - but I’d wager a lot that it’s never been necessary - since nobody has ever mentioned that here in three years.
There is no logic to that. There is no dependence on the app or the GPS for there to be a SIM.
As I said it’s just my experience and when I used this iPad with the DJI fly app and no sim in it didn’t show the remote position and the drone position in relation to the remote, I dropped the sim in and it all came up and works perfectly and accurate, and Apple tech support told me you have to put a free sim in to get it to work, but again I’m just sharing what happened with me .
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Personally although I like the idea of a smart controller but I don’t like the idea if the screen breaks you cannot fly until it’s repaired or replaced , if I drop the iPad I can just use my phone.
I’ve bought my SC a neck strap. Won’t use it without it. And it’s own case, where it lives while not in use… Hopefully, I won’t drop it! 
