First Apple computer sold for $618,000
Apple Founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built 200 of the Apple 1 computers in 1976. The original very first prototype, Apple 1, the unicorn of computers, has been sold for £618,000($815,000).
The Apple 1 ran on the Apple 1 BASIC operating system.
The model auctioned this week, is a prototype, probably made prior to its manufacturing run. One computer historian claims, “ this is one of the first Apple computer”.
This celebration edition Apple 1 computer was expected to fetch $1m but auctioneer Charity Buzz said the bid was $815000 just short by 80,0000, the highest grossing computer, which was sold for $905,000 at a Bonham’s auction in New York in October 2014.
Ten percent of the proceeds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, based in New York, Charity Buzz said.
The winning bidders, Glenn and Shannon Dellimore said they want to take the computer into schools and universities to help inspire young people.
The “celebration edition” is different from other Apple 1s because it was manually soldered on a blank PC board, meaning it was part of the only two production runs of the device.
Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple on 1st April 1976 in California in the garage of Paul and Clara Jobs. The trio’s first major project was the Apple 1 computer, which was first unveiled at the Homebrew Computer Club- a hobbyist group in Silicon Valley. To help fund the machine’s production, Steve Jobs sold his VW Microbus, while Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator for $500.
The Apple 1 first went for sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66.
About 175 of the 200 units were sold, while the remaining units were destroyed. Two weeks after Apple formation, Wayne sold his 10% stake for $800.
Tech giant Apple’s annual revenue last year was $234bn.