Apple is the world’s leading company when it comes to smartphones and computers – the bitten apple decorates approximately 1.3 billion active Apple devices around the world.
For fans of the brand, here’s a piece of exciting news: an Apple item best described as a ‘technological relic’ will be up for grabs. This ‘Apple-1’ computer was designed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the 1970s and is still alive and kicking.
Just as its name suggests, ‘Apple-1’ was the first computer ever designed by Apple, and although it might not meet your current needs, this 1970s computer works perfectly. Soon, this historic piece of digital history is to pass under the hammer.
Last June, when Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen was in the midst of restoring the computer, Cohen stated that the overall condition of the device was approaching 8.5/10. Now it’s a perfect 10/10. It’s remarkable that the almost 50-years-old device is working that well, and, according to Cohen, the system has been tested for almost eight hours without any problems arising.
The Apple-1 was first conceived as a raw circuit board which Jobs and Wozniak wanted to sell it as a kit to be assembled by the buyers themselves. When Jobs introduced the idea to Paul Terrell, the owner of The Byte Shop (one of the world’s first stores to sell personal computers), Terrell agreed to buy 50 samples, but under one condition: that the computers must already be assembled and ready for use.
During the months to come, the two creators put together 200 examples of which 175 would sell during the coming ten months.
As of 2013, 63 known examples of the Apple-1 still exist, of which only six are known to be in working condition. Among these examples, a few have been sold at auction – some reaching the top estimate of US$800,000 (£622,000).
Here, the Apple-1 is to be sold along with its original instruction manual and keyboard at an estimated US$300,000 to $400,000 (£386,000 to £311,000). The Boston auction house states that this example of the Apple-1, unlike the other examples, has not undergone any alterations which has resulted in its excellent condition.
The Apple-1 is an outstanding example of the extraordinary technological ingenuity that the creators of the world’s most powerful brand already possessed during the 1970s.
The sale will be held on 25 September in Boston at RR Auction. You can find find additional information here.
