Yes that is what I am telling you or saying in regards to the Ipad
Air 2 with wifi and cellular capabilities (I have not researched if you get a gps chip with Ipad mini with wifi and cellular capabilities, however I do believe I remember reading that).
Some information you are being given by some is just not correct. I am a new flyer however know from research prior to buying the bird and by flying experience since... you do not need any data plan to use maps if you buy the right tablet and use the provided satellite GPS.
I fly far out away from wifi ... in the National Forest yesterday some 35 miles from home, I have not use introduced a cache of maps, I have no data plan what-so-ever and the sim card is not even in the my Ipad:
I do not fly with blank screen or "black and white" map. I have choice of maps (through the ap and gps) of Standard (road/street maps, Satellite (topo) or Hybrid (topo with roads/streets). I fly using Satellite mode and have not used the others, I can record and use my flight path on the map. The maps I used are satellite imagery that are available by using satellites and the DJI Ap and without any data plan (none).
Flown about 30 flights in the last 10 days from many different locations and always using maps and having no "data plan" what-so-ever. People that say that you need the data plan are uninformed... if you have gps capabilities (chip) without wifi and the DJI Ap then it is not needed. Even the Cellular Companies told me I needed a data plan (cheapest being 2 gigs at $40/mo. on a two year contract + $min.$960 commitment). I told them I thought they were wrong, I researched more and paid $120 extra to get a tablet with wifi and cellular capabilities instead of just wifi and ... I proved them wrong and saved a bunch of $ .
It is a Fact ~ We do not need any data plan to fly our Phantom3s using maps + satelittes + DJI Pilot Ap (and no wifi) if we have the gps chip in our tablets.