Rare Apple Prototypes and Apple-1 Go Up for Auction

[MacRumors]

Unique Apple products, vintage devices, prototypes, and documents signed by Steve Jobs often fetch thousands of dollars when sold off, and RR Auction is auctioning off a new round of rare Apple products as of today.

An operational Apple-1 Computer with is up for sale, and could fetch up to $300,000. The machine is known as the "Bayville" Apple-1, and is number 91 on the Apple-1 Registry. The Apple-1 was the first computer sold by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and a limited number of the machines remain available.

The Apple-1 is in good condition with clear labeling and no peeling on the board. It comes with an original manual with a handwritten note by Daniel Kottke, who was Apple employees number 12.

There are two checks signed by Steve Jobs that could sell for upwards of $25,000, and a rare Apple II Computer with and Rev. 0 logic board and ventless case that could sell for $30,000.

Several EVT (Engineering Validation Test) prototype devices are up for auction as well, such as a Macintosh Portable in a clear case. The Macintosh Portable, released in 1989, was the first battery-powered Apple laptop. Because it weighed more than 16 pounds and was expensive, it wasn't a major success and there are few available, and fewer with a prototype transparent case. Given the rarity of the device, it could sell for $50,000+.

There are also EVT or PVT versions of the iPod Classic, iMac G3, Power Mac G4 Cube, Power Macintosh, and Macintosh TV, all of which could sell for thousands.

All of the Apple devices up for sale can be found on the RR Auction site.

Article Link: Rare Apple Prototypes and Apple-1 Go Up for Auction

 

[Fuzzball84]

Really interesting, the prototype portable looks awesome.

Only issue with buying such devices is that you really need special storage in terms of controlled humidity, temperature and light to ensure that the devices don’t degrade rapidly. Then there’s the insurance and exactly where to store them.

Was pretty sad when I seen some of LGR’s collection get damaged by a tree falling through house in a storm.

I hope more of these end up in museums rather than private collections and not on display.

 

[now i see it]

id pay $500k for it

 

[DocMultimedia]

That clear portable is really nice looking. I'd go with $20k for that, but since I'd do that it just means someone will go much higher. I'll do a 3d printing of a clear case for my PowerBook 1400c that I booted up yesterday and have it look that cool.

 

[kalsta]

Fascinating that they experimented with translucent cases several years before Ive joined Apple, and well before the original iMac.

 

[UliBaer]

id pay $500k for it

Just do it!

 

[Lioness~]

Looks clearly before Ive designs. He hadn't joined Appl at that time.
Neither had I discovered Apple 😉

 

[aussie-reader]

Fascinating that they experimented with translucent cases several years before Ive joined Apple, and well before the original iMac.

Not an experiment, the prototypes had clear cases back then, there are transparent Newtons and several laptops from that era.

 

[kalsta]

Not an experiment, the prototypes had clear cases back then, there are transparent Newtons and several laptops from that era.

Okay, so it took Jony and Steve to realise that they actually looked good enough to take to market!

 

[Heindijs]

I like how in the cheque he seemingly first wrote '1975' then realised what year it was.

 

[svish]

Expecting everything to be sold off in the auction. The working computer might fetch more than the expected amount. Everything is a collector's item.

 

[iPay]

Nice relics!
They quickly reverted to opaque casing so nobody could see the dearth of RAM inside

 

[yossi]

If the Apple-1 is "fully functional" why wouldnt they show a picture of the monitor turned on with the UI?

 

[thefrost]

That's cool.

 

[freedomlinux]

If the Apple-1 is "fully functional" why wouldnt they show a picture of the monitor turned on with the UI?

One the auction page it says:

"This Apple-1 computer was restored to operational condition in October 2019 by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen, and a video of it running and functioning is available upon request."

Probably not that exciting to show some characters on screen, but it would have been nice. I wouldn't be surprised if the current owner doesn't like to run it / doesn't know how to use it.

 

[SnowPenguin]

That Apple portable looks very nice! I wish I could tinker with it a little bit.

 

[sunman42]

Really interesting, the prototype portable looks awesome.

Only issue with buying such devices is that you really need special storage in terms of controlled humidity, temperature and light to ensure that the devices don’t degrade rapidly. Then there’s the insurance and exactly where to store them.

Was pretty sad when I seen some of LGR’s collection get damaged by a tree falling through house in a storm.

I hope more of these end up in museums rather than private collections and not on display.

I have a vague memory that Apple made a small number of transparent-case Portables as sales aids, so the heedless rich could see what they’d crammed inside. Also iirc, the optional hard drive added another ~ 1 lb. in weight, and the AC adapter was another couple of pounds. Put all that in the Apple-branded carrying case, and it came to about 22 lb. There was a reason people who used the machine called it the “Luggable.” My left shoulder is still trying to recover, 36 years later.

What a difference the “only” 6.something-lb. PowerBook 170 made, only two years later.