Ranking the iPad Mini Rumormongers

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Now that Apple is all done making it's little-big announcements, we can confirm that our rumormongers were right about one thing: Apple now sells a mini version of the iPad. Other than that, how did our supposed spec prophets do? Turns out the one thing all the tech bloggers agreed on didn't exactly hit the mark. Apple is calling the Mini a 7.9-inch tablet, rather than the 7.85 quoted by our rumorers. Perhaps Apple is rounding up because 7.9, as the inverse of the 9.7 inches its big sister iPad measures, sounds nicer. Maybe. But the tech specs on the site quote other measurements, such as the length (7.87-inches), to the hundredth decimal point. Plus everyone will call it the 7.9-inch iPad Mini, so we're going to mark that 7.85 measurement as wrong. Otherwise, the rumorers did a decent job, as you can see in our updated chart below, which compares this morning's rumors with the actual specifications using big green YES-es for correct answers and corresponding red NO-es for incorrect ones.

Unlike the iPhone 5 predictors, our iPad Mini rumorers didn't ace it. But compared to last March's iPad announcement, they did well, further confirming our suspicion that Apple is no longer obsessive about secrecy. Even though we would love to give everyone an A for effort, it's time to call the winners and losers of this round. 

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!

WINNER: The Verge

What they rumored wrong: 7.85-inch screen,

What they rumored right: Thinner bezel, iPad 2 guts, lower resolution, lightning connector, thinner and lighter, camera. 

Score: 1

2nd (tied): Gizmodo

What they rumored wrong: 7.85-inch screen. 

What they rumored right: Thinner bezel, iPad 2 guts, lower resolution screen, lightning connector, camera. 

Score: 0

2nd (tied): TechCrunch

What they rumored wrong: 7.85-inch screen.

What they rumored right: iPad 2 guts, lower resolution screen, a WiFi only model, LTE, and a thinner and lighter build. 

Score: 0

2nd (tied): MacRumors

What they rumored wrong: 7.85-inch screen.

What they rumored right: iPad 2 guts, lower resolution, $329 price, WiFi only model, and 4G LTE.

Score: 0

5th (tied): Cult of Mac

What they rumored wrong: 7.85-inch screen and $249 starting price. 

What they rumored right: Lower resolution screen, thinner and lighter, WiFi only model, lightning connector, and camera. 

Score: -5

5th (tied): 9to5Mac

What they rumored wrong: 7.85-inch screen and A5X or A6 processor. 

What they rumored right: Thinner bezel, lower screen resolution, $329 price, thinner and lighter, and the cameras. 

Score: -5

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