Unopened Original iPhone Sells for $35,000 at Auction

[dvanwinkle]

Some people will pay anything for a headphone jack I guess.

 

[H2SO4]

Still one of the best designs, in my opinion. There was a “Wow” factor, holding one in your hand.

Looked good but I thought it was terrible to hold. Like a wet bar of soap. It never sat flat/still either.

 

[reyesmac]

It would be funny if old iPhone batteries explode after their useful life is over like so many of the PRAM batteries in classic macs did. But this kind of price for this seems like either someone out there is playing with daddies money or they are sitting on a bunch of sealed iPhones and want to drive up their value.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I wouldn't be surprised if its not a YouTuber that bought it. There is this YouTuber with like 8 million followers thats always doing concept renders and drop tests for iPhones.

 

[Brandon42]

An x-ray wouldn’t prove that someone didn’t shrink wrap a used original iPhone.

Also, if you wanted to skip the x-ray and reasonably prove there is an iPhone inside you could find the point that a boxed iPhone balances on. If someone threw in the right weight of sand or such, the balance point would be off from expected.

 

[guywithdog]

an expensive paperweight... 🤔

 

[ChromeAce]

Now all he needs is a case with a slot for the dock connector as well as the matching Bluetooth earpiece.

 

[compwiz1202]

The iPhone 14 Pro is going to be dirt cheap in comparison. Everyone can stop complaining about that price

That's exactly what I said to my coworkers

 

[compwiz1202]

Someone, somewhere is keeping every iPhone still sealed up and waiting to release it for a huge payday in the future. Lol. Funny, but I'm sure someone is.

I'm sure. And it happens with lots of stuff, so it never becomes rate so no on gets their payday.

 

[Matsamoto]

The smell alone is worth alot of money. Approved by the late Steve Jobs! One of a kind!

Maybe it’s the iPhone Steve Jobs edition🤔

 

[antiprotest]

It's not gonna get any security updates.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

An unopened phone in its original package for 15 years seems like a stupid idea. It’s not an action figure that you can at least see through the package. Not only is the battery certainly dead, you need a 2007 version of iTunes to get the phone working (if it is even possible anymore). The phone inside is about as useful as the iPhone 14 dummy models floating around. Why bother marveling over a revolutionary device if you can’t actually experience it at all.

I have to assume sarcasm here.

Else, buyer is almost certainly NOT buying to try to use it as a phone. This is collectible purchasing... like the occasional Apple I computers or the Mickey Mantle baseball card sold a few days ago. That guy doesn't even play baseball anymore. Why would someone want to pay for that card? See Action Comics #1.

Why don't you look up the 2015 "Salvator Mundi" painting selling price. Why would anyone want to pay that much for a painting when every summer art show delivers "starving artist" prices for all the paintings to blanket anyone's walls?

And on and on. People pay up huge for collectibles... usually hoping to sell them some time later for considerably more than whatever they pay now. I presume this will go into storage for a few years and then be offered again for auction. The "stupid" buyer who paid so much for a useless phone today will probably make enough to prove any naysayers wrong.

 

[JM]

Yeah that's what I first thought, how do you prove it's the original cellophane?

Exxxxxxxactly.

That does not look like Apple quality cellophane. It looks like the thick cellophane seal that you see on resealed products off eBay/Amazon resellers.

I don’t think I could ever trust a BNIB post ever again.

 

[litmag01]

What?! That battery alone is about to cause $35k in damages.

 

[razmy]

Originally the iTunes store app was positioned on the bottom right, not the left by default. This was before you could rearrange the home screen.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

That's exactly what I said to my coworkers

Plot twist, I am one of your coworkers and stole your joke to post here for free likes.

 

[testcard]

I would have expected it to be worth more.

 

[ellsworth]

I still have my iphone from this initial batch. I wonder how much I can get for it. Still works.

Edit: Goodness. Used models of this original batch are selling anywhere in between $1,400 to $2,000. That's a lot.

 

[mhmercer]

Is that Schrödinger's iPhone: both dead and alive, inside its box?

 

[CheffyDude]

This is the phone that changed everything. When released, it was so far ahead of its time.

 

[michaelprescott]

Neat. A better investment would have been in AAPL itself though. Likewise, I think next gen VR is going to be just as world changing as past next gen phones, if not more.

 

[macfacts]

You could x-ray the box to validate the contents.

That only proves there is something inside, not that it wasnt resealed.

 

[rcread]

I still have my original iPhone. I also got Apple's bluetooth earpiece that would never connect.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Still one of the best designs, in my opinion. There was a “Wow” factor, holding one in your hand.

Those of us outside the USA and no opportunity for direct shipment outside with deep pockets at the time, yeah we missed out until 3G/3GS models.

 

[lawrencejuliano]

I've seen enough YouTube unboxings to sense a bit of "Schrödinger's iPhone" with this one...

At once there exists both a sealed original iPhone, and a re-sealed iPhone box with junk inside.