Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,133
37,051



On October 22, British auction house Bonhams will auction off a rare working Apple 1 motherboard that is expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000, reports Mashable. The motherboard itself was constructed by Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs' family garage for The Byte Shop, and carries the number "01-0070".

auctionapple1motherboard.jpg
Also up for auction is an original flag from Apple's European headquarters, which was in use until 1996. The flag is expected to fetch somewhere between $1,500 and $2,500 and is said to be the only flag from the headquarters that was kept in "fine condition."

auctionappleuroflag.jpg
Last year German auction house Breker sold two working Apple 1 computers, as one unit complete with its original white cardboard box sold for $330,000 while another unit sold for a record-breaking $671,400. The Apple 1 was originally released in 1976 and sold for $666.66. Approximately 200 total units were produced, as few remain in functional condition today.

Article Link: Working Apple 1 Motherboard, Vintage Apple European Headquarters Flag to Be Auctioned
 
Aw shucks! should I get that new house by the beach or should I go for the motherboard.
 
When their done I have a vintage 3rd Gen. iPod in working condition like new back (very few scratches, spent most if its life in a case) It was personally built by a factory worker. I'm expecting it to fetch unimaginable numbers.
 
It's great seeing stuff like this. It always amazes me just how quickly technology has advanced. I remember an episode of ST Voyager where they explained the technology boost in the '90s by saying future tech was reverse-engineered.
 
I wonder what Woz feels to see something he created so many years ago.
 
I have a working vintage Mac 128 with white ceramic cpu for sale with Stevie's signature on the inside case for about the same.
 
I have a one of a kind first imac with a real touch interface. Apple made this as a prototype for a educational company to test on autistic children.
The interface in the inside has the label iTouch.
I wonder if this would intrest?
 
I remember an episode of ST Voyager where they explained the technology boost in the '90s by saying future tech was reverse-engineered.

This is how I came to see Bitcoin when I learned how it works, and thought about how amazing it is that we even have something like this. The way I've described it to several people is that it's as if someone time-traveled to the 23rd century and brought the plans for it back with them... :eek:
 
Woz gets a kick out of it. He has said he'll sign any Apple I or ][ he comes by if asked.

I still have my first computer and Apple ][ and a ][e with dual floppy drives :)

Would be cool as heck to have him sign them. My son gets a kick out of them when they boot up on an old NEC Green Screen display.
 
I still have my first computer and Apple ][ and a ][e with dual floppy drives :)

I had a computer class in high school where we used Apple ][e systems. It really is crazy how far things have come since those first came out. An iPhone has more storage space and RAM than all 30+ computers in that classroom COMBINED!
 
If Woz built another one right now, what would you pay for it?

This is an excellent tutorial to build a working reproduction of the Apple I. Most of the parts are still in production while some are emulated in FPGAs. They even have the Gerber files for the board to fabricate.

http://www.computerworld.com/articl...building-an-apple-1-replica-from-scratch.html

----------

I had a computer class in high school where we used Apple ][e systems. It really is crazy how far things have come since those first came out. An iPhone has more storage space and RAM than all 30+ computers in that classroom COMBINED!

Yup. My one concern is that common consumer computer systems are so complex that learning to code them have become too high of an initial gradient. Back in those days, every computer booted up with a prompt and you can start coding in BASIC immediately. You also only had a keyboard to input commands in cryptic text.

Now, they boot into a desktop with a mouse or other pointing device. To get coding, you need to install a development environment with dozens of options that can overwhelm a novice. Xcode along has over a hundred command options just two levels into the initial UI.

If I was running a programming class, I'd have the class start off with the Arduino platform and the Arduino IDE to get the ball started. Have that LED flash! Then move to other programs like different BASIC IDEs and then to C programming.

While a lot of boot camps are promoting Swift, many are still not convinced of it as Apple is the only house with a compiler for it.
 
what would be fascinating would be if Woz could look at the board and tell/remember something associated with it, ha ha. The added cost of flying with the board to him is probably not much compared to what the Apple 1 cost to acquire.

While a huge milestone at the time, I sure am glad that I no longer have to use an Apple 2 on a daily basis!!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.