> Do chips just ship from the factory with this data, or is it not needed anymore.
While the general orbits of the satellites (each is uniquely identifiable) can be pre-shipped, orbits do fluctuate, so the data would still need to be updated / fine tuned.
> The receiver is missing or has inaccurate estimates of its position, velocity, the time, or the visibility of any of the GPS satellites. As such, the receiver must systematically search for all possible satellites. After acquiring a satellite signal, the receiver can begin to obtain approximate information on all the other satellites, called the almanac. This almanac is transmitted repeatedly over 12.5 minutes. Almanac data can be received from any of the GPS satellites and is considered valid for up to 180 days.
While the general orbits of the satellites (each is uniquely identifiable) can be pre-shipped, orbits do fluctuate, so the data would still need to be updated / fine tuned.
> The receiver is missing or has inaccurate estimates of its position, velocity, the time, or the visibility of any of the GPS satellites. As such, the receiver must systematically search for all possible satellites. After acquiring a satellite signal, the receiver can begin to obtain approximate information on all the other satellites, called the almanac. This almanac is transmitted repeatedly over 12.5 minutes. Almanac data can be received from any of the GPS satellites and is considered valid for up to 180 days.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_to_first_fix
But a general fix can do done without any initial data, and is sped up by being near the previous last fix and caching some data.