Ranking the iPhone 5 Rumormongers

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Before today's announcement the whispers led many to believe Apple would introduce an iPhone 5. That didn't really pan out. And that was just one of the many rumors swirling around the Interwebs before Apple's media event. The Apple rumor mill is powered by a strong and steady stream of bloggers. A lot of false information gets pumped out. Now that we have the real specs, to better prepare for the next big Apple announcement, let's see how our rumor mongers did.

The Real Deal: Today Apple announced an iPhone 4S. It looks exactly the same as the iPhone 4, but works better. It has an upgraded 8 mega pixel camera, a dual-core A5 processor (the same chip as the iPad). Apple says it will work as fast as 4G, but it doesn't support 4G. It also works on both GSM and CDMA network, meaning it works as a world phone. And the feature that wowed bloggers most: Siri, a Hal-like voice activated assistant. How did our Apple-gossips do? 

Our Grading System: Since it's easy enough to report every single rumor, we'll penalize for wrong guesses, taking off 5 for each false rumor and awarding a point for solid reports. Here we go!

No. 1: 9to5Mac

What they rumored wrong: An off tiered pricing plan; -5

What they got right: iPhone 4 design; A5 processor; world phone; siri, 8 megapixel camera +5

Final Grade: 0

No. 2: Macrumors 

What they rumored wrong: A new design; 4G speed; -10

What they got right: "lower cost" 8GB iPhone 4; and three iPhone 4S models; Siri; A5 chip; Free iPhone 3GS +6

Final Grade: -4

No. 3: Gizmodo

What they rumored wrong: Wider screen; iPhone 4G; -10

What they got right: 8 megapixel camera; upgraded iPhone 4 +2

Final Grade: -8

No. 4: Boy Genius Report

What they rumored wrong: iPhone 5; Sprint Exclusivity; radical new design -15

What they got right: Updated iPhone 4; dual-core A5 processor with amazing graphics support; 8-megapixel backlit camera sensor for professional quality photographs; full 1080p HD video recording; Siri; Worldphone; +6

Grade: -11

No. 5: TechCrunch

What they rumored wrong: Two new iPhones; cheap iPhone 4S; new thinner design; A4 processor -20

What they got right: A5 processor; world phone; iPhone 4S +3

Final Grade: -17

So there you have it. Next time we go into deep Apple product rumor mode, 9to5Mac is your go-to source for feature speculation.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.