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Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

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A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007.

original-iphone-auction.jpg

The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000, which actually marked a sales record for a first-generation iPhone.
Unopened first generation original Apple iPhone, Model A1203, Order MA712LL/A (8GB). The box features a life-size image of the iPhone with twelve icons on the screen, indicating that it is from the earliest production (2007); a 13th icon, for iTunes, came later in the year. In brand new, factory-sealed condition. Accompanied by an AT&T bag and leaflet regarding rate plans and iPhone activation. The consignor notes that he purchased this phone upon its release in 2007, but also received one through work as an Apple employee; this spare was therefore never opened.
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Other unopened original iPhones sold for $35,000 and $39,000 in 2022, so prices have been trending upward.

RR Auction also sold a an "undiscovered" Apple-1 computer for an unspecified sum, with other Apple devices and memorabilia also fetching high prices. A Macintosh Plus from Del Yocam sold for $26,590, while a Macintosh 128K prototype sold for $16,500 and an Apple Lisa sold for $81,251.

An iPhone 11 signed by Apple CEO Tim Cook sold for nearly $4,000, technical instructions annotated by Steve Jobs went for $12,500, and a Steve Jobs business card sold for $6,188.

Article Link: Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/03/17/original-iphone-auction-results/
The $599 cost of that phone in 2007 is about $870 today. It's not clear unless I missed it though. In 2007 phones were heavily subsidized by cellular providers, at least here in the US. Was $599 an unsubsidized price?
 
kc2kth said:
The $599 cost of that phone in 2007 is about $870 today. It's not clear unless I missed it though. In 2007 phones were heavily subsidized by cellular providers, at least here in the US. Was $599 an unsubsidized price?
Click to expand...
Steve Baller’s reaction to the iPhone had him saying “$500 fully subsidized with a plan”
 
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kc2kth said:
The $599 cost of that phone in 2007 is about $870 today. It's not clear unless I missed it though. In 2007 phones were heavily subsidized by cellular providers, at least here in the US. Was $599 an unsubsidized price?
Click to expand...

The original iPhone sold for the full $599 (so no subsidy was offered) and required a two-year contact with AT&T (same as subsidized cell phones).
 
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dhbanes said:
You should give half your paycheck to a charity. It's a shame that you don't.
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Look, I don't know this guy's financial situation and if this helps him, great. But it just seems crazy to me that people would spend this much on an object that will probably just sit on a shelf or something, it just seems like a waste of money.
 
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I have an iPhone 2007, just not the box. The box itself fetches for high prices on Ebay. I am just happy to have one. It’s even running the very first version of iPhoneOS. Booting up and seeing how far we’ve come is amazing. It does not seem to be recognized by my PowerBook G4 running Leopard, but I got it to sync on my old Dell Laptop running XP. I synced songs from 2007. That was such an uncertain year for me. I remember when I started at a vocational institute I walked to the nearby supermarket to pickup some essentials with my new roommate. We saw this young lady in the supermarket with one already jailbroken. I went up to her at check out and asked if that’s the iPhone. She said yeah, and I asked if I could look at it. She said sure! I couldn’t believe I was playing with one in ‘Jamaica’. Her significant other sent it to her, there was even a crack on the screen already. It would be years before I owned my first iOS device, 3rd gen iPod Touch with iOS 3. Still didn’t have wallpapers yet.

I don’t know what the future holds for the iPhone and maybe Apple has finally cracked the secret with the VR headset to slowly start chipping away at its success. But there is no denying it, the iPhone has changed the course of history.
 
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kc2kth said:
The $599 cost of that phone in 2007 is about $870 today. It's not clear unless I missed it though. In 2007 phones were heavily subsidized by cellular providers, at least here in the US. Was $599 an unsubsidized price?
Click to expand...

The $599 price required a 2 year AT&T contract. AT&T was typically giving $150 discounts for phones purchased with a 2 year contract so without the contract, the price would've presumably been $749.
 
kc2kth said:
The $599 cost of that phone in 2007 is about $870 today. It's not clear unless I missed it though. In 2007 phones were heavily subsidized by cellular providers, at least here in the US. Was $599 an unsubsidized price?
Click to expand...
There was no subsidized iPhones at launch. it was staggering to think people would pay $600 for a phone when all phones were subsidized (free with 2 yr contract) in the U.S.

I was one of those launch-day kids. Went to a party that night and my buddy says "well, did you get it." I sheepishly nodded and he said "well let me see!" I was very embarrassed that I spent that much on the a phone. But I knew it was coming, saved some scratch and got one. Not looked back. Several years later, I had that device near my computer on my desk. While away on vacation, we were burglarized and they stole that phone - not the computer (easier grab and dash). I still wish I had that guy. I have since purchased one of those Grid Studio original iPhones as a way to kind of recapture that pretty historic moment in tech history. But yeah... Would have loved to have my original launch day device. And if I were smart(er), I would have bought two and kept one sealed. 🤪
 
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