Bidding for World Renown Apple 1 Computer Ends August 25th, Fetching up to $1,000,000
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One of the world’s most rare and valuable computers is currently up for auction, and may fetch up to $1,000,000. The computer, an original Apple 1, is currently up for sale on Charitybuzz. It includes a BASIC program cassette tape, a Star Trek and Blackjack program cassette tape, and all original manuals and fliers. Only about 200 Apple 1 units were produced, and there are thought to be only about 60 of the computers still in existence. According to Recode, this particular Apple 1 was bought in 2000 for $18,000, but will be sold for much more – bids are already topping $500,000 with several days to go.
Why is this particular computer worth so much? Well, this Apple 1, known as the “Celebration” Apple 1, is believed to be one of the earliest models of the device – what Apple historian Corey Cohen calls “the rookie card” of Apple computers. The Celebration Apple 1 was built in the garage of Steve Jobs’ parents’ house in the mid 1970’s, and is believed to have been hand-finished by Jobs himself. According to the item description on Charitybuzz, the Celebration Apple 1 “is extremely rare not only because of the scarcity of Apple-1 computers, but according to Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, no known PCB boards of this type were ever sold to the public. At this time, this is the only known Apple-1 to show the signs of starting out as a blank original-run board and not part of the two known production runs, so this board appears to be unique from all other known Apple-1 boards.”
The Celebration Apple 1 is believed to be an experimental board due to the unique layout and parts that differ from those found on the officially released Apple 1 machines. Cohen believes that this particular device has the potential to be “powered up” with minor restoration, but doing so would likely require modification – Cohen advises against doing so in order to preserve the original integrity of the board.
The Celebration Apple 1 may be the first Apple 1 to break the $1 million mark at auction. Previously, an Apple 1 sold to the Henry Ford Museum of Dearborn, Michigan at auctioneer Bonhams for $905,000. Due to the unique nature of the Celebration Apple 1, however, many believe it will fetch a higher price than any other previous Apple 1 sold. Bids are currently sitting at $510,000, and bidding closes Thursday afternoon, August 25th, at 3:00pm EDT. If you’d like to own a piece of history (and you have an extra $1 million lying around), or if you’d like to take a look at the machine, check out the auction at this link.
