'Apple Computer A' Prototype Apple-1 Owned by Steve Jobs Heads to Auction

[Anonymous Freak]

One of the distinguishing features of the "Apple Computer A" prototype was its use of three orange Sprague Atom capacitors...

One of the distinguishing features of this item is the part that is missing from this item...

Also:

The board appears to have been damaged by pressure on the upper right, resulting in a crack that runs from adjacent to the power supply area above D12 down through the bottom of the board to the right of A15.

That is not "a crack". A "crack" in an item is when there is damage through layers of the item. This is "a piece has broken off."

The Liberty Bell has "a crack."

The Titanic may have *HAD* "a crack", but then it fully split apart.

This is more akin to the Titanic than the Liberty Bell.

 

[iLG]

 

[Robert.Walter]

Apple should buy this and put on display in its lobby or give to the Smithsonian.

 

[Wanted797]

I strongly agree here. There are dozens of Apple I machines out there so a few have ended up safely in museums. There is only one of these; it should be at CHM or some other computing museum for all to be able to see rather than end up in someone's private collection.

Museum pieces are usually owned by 3rd parties. With few exceptions for purchases of the museum itself.

The buyer of this could very well loan it to a museum.

 

[headwerkn]

Is the RAM soldered on?
What is the iFixit reparability score?

I'm pretty sure if you took it to Woz and asked nicely he'd tack a bit of proto-board into the missing "bit" and sort it out. He'd probably enjoy it too!

"Solder through PCB? Ohh, there's a word I've not heard in a long time..."

 

[anthogag]

I bid $5 🤳

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Is the RAM soldered on?
What is the iFixit reparability score?

-1000?

 

[_Spinn_]

Very cool piece of history!

 

[profcutter]

One of the distinguishing features of this item is the part that is missing from this item...
I was thinking the same thing. At first I was like, what, those little disc capacitors?

 

[UnusedLoginID]

I have a few broken Apple products I'd like to unload for half a million too...

 

[SoldOnApple]

Still hard to believe that Jobs isn't with us anymore. Keynotes without Jobs are still very surreal.

 

[headlessmike]

Some damage..

Or was that an attempt to make it thinner and lighter?

Anyway, I'm relieved this thing doesn't come with a butterfly keyboard.

;-)

It’s the 1970s equivalent of chip binning. This is the 7 core GPU version.

 

[TheOldChevy]

Is the RAM soldered on?
What is the iFixit reparability score?

My Apple II was 100% repairable (as long as the ICs were available for sale), it even came with its full schematics and ROM dump. I don't know for the Apple I.

It was also a big larger that current version... and even more expensive (in inflation-compensated currency).

 

[SurferPup]

 

[joshseibert]

Looks like an aerial shot of a parking lot.

 

[Matthew.H]

Funny how much some people will pay for effectively a piece of e-waste. (Yes I know it's a rare prototype with historical value but it's still got a big chunk missing).

 

[1 iron]

How much for the Apple Garage

 

[kc9hzn]

It will be cheaper to replicate one.

Of course. There are reproduction kits for the Apple I, that won’t cost more than $100 or so. As far as I know, all the chips are off the shelf, it’s not like some of the Commodore machines, where they had custom video and/or audio chips that are no longer manufactured.

If you’re buying an Apple I at auction, you’re buying it for the cachet of owning a rare computer by the largest manufacturer of consumer electronics today (and the first company ever to have a market cap over a trillion dollars USD). (And to flex about how much money you have and how much of a geek you are.) And this one is a prototype board, making it even rarer and more exclusive. Buying this would be like buying a prototype of Sony’s first rice cooker (the very first product they released).

The collector’s market in general is pretty overheated these days, which explains some of the ludicrous prices. But this piece, because of its provenance and its status as a rare number of prototypes of a rare computer, would fetch a fairly high price even in a relatively down market.

 

[rpmurray]

The Woz is known for trying to use the least number of parts in the most efficient way, but I really wish he would have spent some time on the board layout to make it more compact.

 

[xbjllb]

Price not suspect....

 

[RogerWilco]

That circuit board is junk, not even functional, but Jobs touched it so it’s worth $500K?

 

[svish]

Will definitely fetch a lot of money in the auction.

 

[TheOldChevy]

Funny how much some people will pay for effectively a piece of e-waste. (Yes I know it's a rare prototype with historical value but it's still got a big chunk missing).

As you mention it, it's a piece of e-story.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I wonder what was the reason for that strange devil pricing. What about charging $699 for it? The other price just makes it sound like a scam.

 

[IIGS User]

Two questions.

First is from my friend "Jony". He wants to know how THIN it is.

The second is from my friend "Steve" and he wants to know how loud the fans are....