In message , charles writes
Of course they have a way to find themselves - it's called GPS :-)
Phones have an advantage over standalone GPS/satnav units in that they already know roughly where they are (I assume down to the 100's of metres at least) from the cell towers they are connected to, so the using GPS it can located itself quickly.
My handheld GPS unit does take noticeably longer to locate itself if it has moved a long distance switched off, however, it does locate itself fine.