Sold! An original, working Apple I scores six figures at auction

Like cars that start to lose their value the second you drive them off a dealer’s lot, a personal computer you buy today will next year not be worth anywhere near what you paid for it.

Oh sure, there are exceptions to the rule. For example, when it comes to cars, anything owned and driven by 1960s and 70s action star Steve McQueen can easily fetch more than a million bucks at auction. But, for computers there are not too many 42-year-old machines that someone would willingly pay six figures for here in 2018.

Unless that 42-year-old machine happens to be a functional Apple I, the first computer built by Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. Then, you can expect someone to pony up, say, $375,000 for the thing. Which is what happened on Tuesday.

Boston-based RR Auction sold the Apple I as part of its annual “Rare and Remarkable Auction.” The auction house said the computer was restored to its original functional state in June, and that it is one of only 60 to 70 of the original 200 Apple I computers that Wozniak and Jobs built.

The computer was sold along with a period-specific keyboard and monitor, as well as the original Apple operation manual and other original Apple documentation and accessories.

Of course, $375,000 is a lot of money for a computer that can’t play Fortnite, or probably much else today. But, if that seems like too much dough for a piece of Apple history, there were a few other “deals” to be had with the RR sale.

Why, a Macintosh Plus computer signed by Jobs and nine Mac team developers could have been yours…for a relatively paltry $28,750.

Share this: Print

View more on The Mercury News