£150,000 for rare ‘Apple-1’ sold by Steve Jobs

November 23rd at Christie’s in London,  the first ever Apple computer, which company founder Steve Jobs sold from his parents’ garage back in the 70s, will be for sale for £150,000.

This computer is an original from the 200 made that were launched in 1976. There are only a few in the world left, so it is a very rare and highly prized item. It would have cost $666.66 (£410) when first sold, so quite a nice investment.

Some interesting stats about this computer:

  • Tiny 8K memory – 524,000 times less than is standard with today’s Apple computers. It would not have the capacity to store one song.
  • CPU: MOS 6502, 1.0 MHz.
  • Display: Monochrome 280 X 192, 40 X 24 text.
  • Keyboard: Not included.
  • Ports: Composite video output keyboard interface, one vertical expansion slot.
  • This example will be the first ever to be sold by a major auction house when it goes under the hammer at Christie’s of London.
  • It proves the growing interest in early computer technology and highlights how quickly home computing has advanced in the last 30 years.
  • Incredibly, it comes with the original packaging, instruction manuals and a signed letter by  Jobs, who is still head of the company.

  • The Apple-1s were the first fully pre-assembled computer to be produced, but even so did not come with a monitor or keyboard.
  • The computer technically allowed you to programme and it was like a high performance calculator.
  • This one comes with an extra cassette interface, which meant you had a read-write capability.
  • The cassette interface was an extra $75

Julian Wilson from Christie’s said: ‘Before the Apple-1 you would have to put together your own motherboard and would need soldering skills.’

The two Steves (Jobs is on the left) with the Apple-1. Is Jobs really still wearing that turtle neck?

This is such an amazing find, to have the machine and the documentation is really lucky, and I’m sure this computer will continue to go up in value.

Article Via Daily Mail

Chatty Canadian in the UK. Dancing queen in my head. Digital Communications Lecturer. Mac computer fan. Mac makeup fan. iOS developer. Popcorn eater. Was producer & host of quirky app review show Apps & Hats.