Rare First Batch Apple-1 to Fetch Over $250,000 at Auction

Yet another rare Apple-1 computer is up for auction, and this one already has a bid of over $250,000. The Apple-1 was the first Apple product created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak when Apple Computer was founded, and there are few left in existence.

apple 1 computer
Apple-1 models that come up for auction often fetch high prices because of their rarity, and this particular Apple-1 up for sale is number 7 on the registry with a Steve Jobs handwritten serial number. It is a first batch machine, and according to the auction website, it is the only first batch Apple-1 that has gone up for auction in many years and it is the first Apple-1 that has an authenticated serial number handwritten by Jobs.

Daniel Kottke, who was one of the first employees to work at Apple, has verified that it is in working order. It comes with a power supply and other period-appropriate components that include a Sanyo VM-4509 monitor and a Datanetics keyboard. It is also being sold with a modern cassette interface, power supply, connecting cords, and a reproduction of the original operation manual signed by Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

apple 1 computer 2
The auction site is also selling a 1993 Apple MacTV, which was Apple's first effort at creating a TV-computer hybrid, and a Steve Jobs name badge, Versace shirt, and leather wallet.

The Apple-1 auction is set to end on Saturday, May 21, so there are still two weeks for additional collectors to enter bids.

Tag: Apple-1

Top Rated Comments

Doctor Q Avatar
26 months ago
I'd bid on it but I already have a shelf full of my other rare Apple-1s. So I'll skip this one and let some other collector get it this time. ;)
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
theluggage Avatar
26 months ago
So that's how much you have to pay to get socketed RAM and a detachable power cable.... :)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cupcakes2000 Avatar
26 months ago
Apple are doomed. The prices of their stuff these days. Omg.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MonkeyDavid Avatar
26 months ago
The original Apple-1 sold for $666.66, so if you bought it when it came out and sold it for $250,000, so that's 375 times the initial investment.
Of course, if you waited until 1980 and bought $666.66 of Apple stock at the IPO, you would have been able to buy 30 shares, which after all the splits would now be 6,720 shares, worth over $1 million today.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
26 months ago
Does ifixit give it a 10/10 for repairability or 1/10 due to parts availability?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArrayDecay Avatar
26 months ago

I remember reading Byte and Jerry Pournelle's column. I remember thinking if he had a Mac he wouldn't have anything to write about.
I remember John C. Dvorak's 1984 San Fran Chronicle column where he declared "the computer mouse is stupid and nobody will want to use one."
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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