Functional Apple-1 Computer Sells for $375,000 at Auction

[MacRumors]

A rare fully operational Apple-1 computer auctioned off by RR Auction at WeWorks in Boston today fetched a total of $375,000.

The Apple-1 came from a person who purchased the machine from The Byte Shop, the store where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak originally sold the computers for $666.66. The seller used the Apple-1 to learn BASIC and wrote small programs before he decided to hold onto it because it "could one day be a piece of computing history."

Bobby Livingston, Executive VP of RR Auction said that the company was "thrilled" with the price that the Apple-1 earned.

"We are thrilled at the price achieved and that's why we thought it fitting that the Apple 1 should headline our annual Rare and Remarkable auction-- it's a museum-quality piece that has earned a special place in history."

Apple-1 expert Corey Cohn restored the machine to its original, operational state in June 2018, and the auction included a comprehensive technical condition report prepared by Cohen. Cohen rated the condition of the computer at 8.5/10 after it worked without fault for eight hours during a comprehensive test.

Over the course of the last few years, several Apple-1 computers have surfaced at auction and have sold for $130,000 to $815,000. The Apple-1 that fetched the highest price as known as the "Celebration" Apple-1 and was ultra rare due to its black "green" PCB board that was not sold to the public and was not part of a known production run.

There are an estimated 60 to 70 Apple-1 computers still remaining of the original 200 machines that were designed and built by Jobs and Wozniak.

Article Link: Functional Apple-1 Computer Sells for $375,000 at Auction

 

[GGJstudios]

... and people complain about the prices of new Macs and iPhones!

 

[tridley68]

That's alot of cabbage.

 

[adamjackson]

One of those odd times where spending your $666 on Apple Stock would have been a better investment.

Edit: Actually it seems I'm wrong on this one

$265K from $666 in 1980.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Less than a cool half million. What a deal!

 

[fairuz]

One of those odd times where spending your $666 on Apple Stock would have been a better investment.

Edit: Actually it seems I'm wrong on this one

$265K from $666 in 1980.

Yeah, rare items are rarely worth it to hold as investments. More for enjoying it, and the sentimental value too. I wish I could buy a classic car and drive it without racking up miles.

 

[glowplug]

Hmm, I wonder if it can be overclocked.

 

[Cosmosent]

Does anybody know if Tim Cook ever designed anything ?

 

[lunarworks]

You could buy a 1-bedroom condo in Toronto for that.

 

[ninecows]

Looking at the picture it seems like it’s syncing iTunes to some iPod device?

 

[C DM]

You could buy a 1-bedroom condo in Toronto for that.

Or a quarter of one in Cupertino.

 

[glowplug]

Looking at the picture it seems like it’s syncing iTunes to some iPod device?

that’s goonna take a realllly looooong time

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

well - both have fun.
the one guy with a piece of electronic waste

the other guy hopefully spends the money for some real experience!

 

[redneckitengineer]

One of the few pieces of technology that doesn’t depreciate.

 

[theluggage]

Looking at the picture it seems like it’s syncing iTunes to some iPod device?

Back in the day, it would used a cassette tape recorder to save & load software and data. I assume that's what the iPod is for.

That's one of the great things about older computers - they're easy to upgrade to SSD!

 

[BornAgainMac]

I still prefer the Apple IIe with two floppy drives and a full 64k of ram over this Apple 1. The Apple IIe was a great product.

 

[blackcrayon]

I checked apple.com and there don't seem to be any operating system updates for this model of computer.
Planned obsolescence!

 

[iLilana]

now he can afford the new iPhone Xs Max

 

[PlayUltimate]

Back in the day, it would used a cassette tape recorder to save & load software and data. I assume that's what the iPod is for.

That's one of the great things about older computers - they're easy to upgrade to SSD!

lol. . . . remember programming on a TI computer and having to look at the cassette counter to know where the program was stored.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Hmm, I wonder if it can be overclocked.

You should be able to double the CPU clock speed to 2 MHz; but you'll have to change the divider chain to make the video work.
[doublepost=1537976374][/doublepost]

Looking at the picture it seems like it’s syncing iTunes to some iPod device?

Pretty much everyone who actually uses an Apple 1 these days uses an iPod to load programs. Much easier than using a cassette recorder.

However, they should use an iPhone/iPod Touch, so they can SAVE programs, too.

 

[parker55]

It all cost a fortune back then

It wasn't until Clive Sinclair came along with a computer for 100 quid kinda
thing that the masses could participate
Peripherals cost an arm and a leg and "permanent memory storage" was a
Hail Mary Music Cassette system

Everything was seriously flaky but it was fabulous fun when it worked

A whole new world, aye them were days

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Does anybody know if Tim Cook ever designed anything ?

Software, yes.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/22/apple-ceo-tim-cook-coding-college/


Hardware? Not sure; but considering he has a DEGREE in Industrial Engineering, I would think it is likely he has at least DESIGNED something and programmed some CNC machines to produce it.

Let's put it this way: Tim Cook has a LOT more experience in software and hardware development than Steve Jobs ever did. For example, when SJ worked at Atari, and Woz worked at HP, SJ always got Woz to do the actual work, engineering-wise.
[doublepost=1537977829][/doublepost]

I still prefer the Apple IIe with two floppy drives and a full 64k of ram over this Apple 1. The Apple IIe was a great product.

But without the Apple 1, there would NOT have been an Apple ][, PERIOD.
[doublepost=1537977916][/doublepost]

lol. . . . remember programming on a TI computer and having to look at the cassette counter to know where the program was stored.

That was for cheapskates that put more than one program on a cassette... ;-)
[doublepost=1537978115][/doublepost]

It all cost a fortune back then

It wasn't until Clive Sinclair came along with a computer for 100 quid kinda
thing that the masses could participate
Peripherals cost an arm and a leg and "permanent memory storage" was a
Hail Mary Music Cassette system

Everything was seriously flaky but it was fabulous fun when it worked

A whole new world, aye them were days

Well, speak for yourself.

The Apple 1 cassette interface was not only fast for its time (around 1500 bps), but was INSANELY reliable. In fact, the Apple 1 cassette system was SO good that Apple just TRANSFERRED it lock, stock and machine-code to the Apple ][ ...