Rare working Apple I goes for record-smashing $905,000 at auction
One of only 50 known surviving Apple 1 computers was sold at an auction on Wednesday, with the nearly 40-year-old machine crushing expectations to fetch a record-breaking $905,000.
The rare working version of Apple's first pre-assembled computer was sold through Bonhams auction house, which anticipated the sale to garner between $300,000 and $500,000, reports Reuters.
Unlike other recent Apple 1 auctions, the winning bid came from a foundation, not a well-heeled individual buyer. The Henry Ford organization purchased the computer and plans to show it off at its museum in Dearborn, Mich.
"The Apple-1 was not only innovative, but it is a key artifact in the foundation of the digital revolution," Henry Ford President Patricia Mooradian said in a statement.
Prior to today, the record price for a vintage Apple 1 stood at $671,400, a value paid by an anonymous buyer in a 2013 German auction. Before that, another German auction attracted $640,000 for an original working unit.
A total of 200 Apple 1 computers were made, each hand-built by company cofounder Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs' garage in Los Altos, Calif. When the product was first released in 1976, it sold for $666.66 without power supply, display, keyboard or housing.
The rare working version of Apple's first pre-assembled computer was sold through Bonhams auction house, which anticipated the sale to garner between $300,000 and $500,000, reports Reuters.
Unlike other recent Apple 1 auctions, the winning bid came from a foundation, not a well-heeled individual buyer. The Henry Ford organization purchased the computer and plans to show it off at its museum in Dearborn, Mich.
"The Apple-1 was not only innovative, but it is a key artifact in the foundation of the digital revolution," Henry Ford President Patricia Mooradian said in a statement.
Prior to today, the record price for a vintage Apple 1 stood at $671,400, a value paid by an anonymous buyer in a 2013 German auction. Before that, another German auction attracted $640,000 for an original working unit.
A total of 200 Apple 1 computers were made, each hand-built by company cofounder Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs' garage in Los Altos, Calif. When the product was first released in 1976, it sold for $666.66 without power supply, display, keyboard or housing.
Comments
What a cool item to have!
Cool indeed, and the price isn't bad for a functional piece of computer history.
Obviously somebody needed this so that they could run The Matrix on it.
Owner just couldn't wait any longer
for those Broadwell chips...
Think they could have used something a little more upscale than a ¾" wood dowel to mount the thing on?
Think they could have used something a little more upscale than a ¾" wood dowel to mount the thing on?
Agreed. They could even pass as cork from wine bottles.
Does it sport the infamous A1 chip?
And they say that the "Apple Tax" is a myth.
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Hand made by Woz in a little sweatshop in Cupertino.
And they say that the "Apple Tax" is a myth.
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Yeah - talk about retaining resale value...