An extremely rare Apple-1 computer, the original 1976 design created by famed engineer Steve Jobs, has gone up for auction on eBay at an asking price of $1.5 million.
The Apple-1 was Apple’s first product sold to consumers, the result of Wozniak selling a $500 calculator and the late Steve Jobs sold his VW Microbus to fund its development. The Apple-1 was discontinued only a year later in 1977 when the Apple-II was released. According to the Apple-1 Registry, only 200 Apple-1 units (plus a few in pre-production) were ever made.
The Reason behind this extravagant price is listed on eBay, “This is a rare opportunity as there are less than 6 known surviving original Byte Shop KOA wood cases with most in museum collections, with this unit being in the best-known condition of any of those cases, also protecting the board from dust and corrosion, over the well-protected years in special storage.”
About the Apple-1 Computer Deal
The owner of the computer further shared the details of the machine. “The provenance of this Apple-1 system is seen in #79 on the Official Apple-1 Registry, as the second owner. I took possession in early 1978 from the original owner as a part of a trade-in for a newer Apple II computer.”
Along with the computer, whoever buys the machine will also get digital copies of the Original Owners Manuals, Schematics, Basic Manual, Cassette Interface, and Guides. The software that comes with the Apple 1 computer includes Basic Language, Games, Low and High memory Tests, 30th Anniversary Video, and more.
Previous Selling Price of the Computer
Previous Apple-1 computers have sold for as much as $905,000 in 2014, according to CNBC. That current record-holder was believed to be one of the first batches of 50 units that Wozniak built himself.
Experts believe that other Apple-1 units may go for anywhere from $175,000 to $475,000, so definitely lower than the eBay seller’s asking price, but not out of the realm of possibility.
The only parts to have been replaced on this particular unit are its video and keyboard connectors, according to the unit’s Apple-1 Registry page. With a hand-soldered motherboard and a slight difference in the connector pin, current owner Krishna B. Blake conjectured that it may have been originally designed for military use.
According to the seller, this particular Apple-1 unit was originally purchased second hand in a Canadian computer store in 1978 for a “couple hundred” dollars, Blake feeling the hardware would have a place in history.
Ever since, it’s spent its life in a controlled environment in Montreal until 2015, when Blake realized its value had skyrocketed.
