Apple’s gang of anonymous sources are telling the New York Times and Bloomberg different stories about the company’s plans for a budget iPhone.

After last week’s Bloomberg report that Apple is working on a smaller, cheaper iPhone, The New York Times emphatically declares that the budget iPhone will indeed be cheaper, but not smaller.

The Times story pointedly pokes a hole in the mini-iPhone rumor, writing “contrary to published reports, Apple is not currently developing a smaller iPhone.”

In the next paragraph, the Times backpedals a bit, adding the qualifier that Apple is not planning to release a smaller iPhone “any time soon.”

And then the Times cites another anonymous source who states the reason there won’t be a smaller iPhone at this time: “a smaller device would not necessarily be much cheaper to manufacture and because it would be more difficult to operate.”

So there you have it. Apple isn’t working on a smaller iPhone, unless it is.

Apple Is Weighing a Cheaper iPhone [The New York Times]

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