Steve Jobs Once Offered $400 for This Apple-1 — It Just Sold for $1.15 Million
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Only 200 Apple-1 computers were ever made, all of which were designed and engineered by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Now, one of the few surviving units of that computer, signed by Steve Wozniak himself and accompanied by a letter from Apple’s other co-founder Steve Jobs, has just sold for a record-breaking $1.15 million at a Bonhams auction that opened last month — well above the $800,000 the auction house was expecting.
As you can imagine, the value of such a rare collector’s item has increased steadily over the years, and this famous “Hatfield” Apple-1 serves as an excellent example of how items like this can appreciate, especially when the item is signed by the Woz and includes a letter from Jobs.
The “Hatfield” Apple-1 is named after its original owner, Fred Hatfield, who bought it for the retail price at the time, $666.66, which Apple lore says was chosen to reflect Woz’s penchant for repeating numbers. Decades later, the machine was sold at a 2013 online auction held by European auction house Breker, which saw the Apple-1 sell for approximately $666,150.
Then, after taking a tour of the United States during September 2026, the “Hatfield” Apple-1 went up for auction by Bonhams auction house, fetching the record-breaking amount of $1.15 million. It took a mere 28 minutes for the bidding to reach that record amount, and the battle for the rare piece of computer history came down to just two bidders.
“We are delighted with this exceptional result for the ‘Hatfield’ Apple-1, one of the most important milestones in computing history,” said Ian Ehling, Bonhams’ director of fine books and manuscripts for North America, in a statement to AppleInsider.
“It was an honor to offer Apple’s first product during the company’s 50th anniversary year,” he continued. Ehling called the “Hatfield” Apple-1 “one of the most significant Apple-1 computers ever to come to market, and the spirited competition it attracted is a testament to its rarity and enduring appeal.”
The “Hatfield” Apple-1 has been designated as No. 48 in the Apple-1 Registry, and it’s well known among Apple history buffs, as it is truly a special computer, considering its motherboard was signed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and that it also comes with a letter from Steve Jobs. In that letter, Jobs encourages Fred Hatfield to trade in his computer and an additional $400 for an Apple II motherboard.
In the letter, Jobs wrote:
Dear Mr. Hatfield:
This letter is confirm our conversation of January 16th; you are hereby authorized to send to Apple Computer Inc. your Apple I (without memory) and a check for $400.00 and in return are to be sent an Apple II 4K board.
We hope to be hearing from you soon.
While the “Hatfield” Apple-1 is truly an important piece of computer history, it is not the only OG Apple computer to be signed by Steve Wozniak. In November 2021, Wozniak was reunited with another Apple-1 at a crypto event in Dubai, which he also signed, placing his signature on the 6502 processor rather than on the motherboard itself. That Apple-1 later sold for $340,100.
It’s worth noting that Janet Wozniak, Steve’s wife, had to be convinced that the board in question was not a replica. At the time, iDrop News noted her skepticism stemmed from how often the couple encounters Apple-1 clones, with true originals being few and far between — especially at a crypto event in Dubai.
At the time of that signing, the Apple-1 in question was part of the AAPL Collection, located in Dubai, which was described as “one of the most comprehensive private collections of vintage Apple computers and accessories in the world.”
