While Apple is working to cut the price of iPhones and iPads to appeal to more consumers, vintage Apple gear keeps getting more valuable by the minute. This weekend a vintage Apple I computer, made in 1976, was sold at an auction for a record $671,400.
The auction beat the previous record price for an Apple I that was set at an auction house in Germany last November when someone snatched up a working Apple I for $640,000.
According to the New York Times, the buyer of the Apple I is a wealthy entrepreneur from the Far East who wishes to remain anonymous.
There are only six working Apple I’s in the world, but the auction of the Apple I this weekend wasn’t expected to break the record. The owner of the Apple I bought the machine from Fred Hatfield in New Orleans for $40,000 and then got the machine in working order before the auction to increase its value.
The lot included the original Apple I owners manual and a letter to the Apple I’s original owner, Fred Hatfiled, signed by Steve Jobs. One unique characteristic of the Apple I being auctioned is Steve Wozniak’s signature on the motherboard. The owner flew out to California just to get Woz’s signature on the motherboard
Source: NYT
