The original Apple-1 is rare, but an eBay auction going on now is for a nearly unique version with a wood case made by the Byte Shop. There are reportedly only 6 of these still in existence. That’s why the seller is asking a cool $1,750,000.
The Apple-1 was released on April 11, 1976, after being designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak, with Steve Jobs handling the (limited) marketing. Only around 200 Apple-1 computers were ever sold, primarily through Byte Shop, one of the first personal computer stores.
Apple-1 up for auction is museum quality
The seller of this vintage Apple hardware now listed on eBay says “This is a verified fully operational original Apple-1 computer system in excellent condition in its original Byte Shop KOA wood case, with original power supply and Datanetics Version D keyboard. This Apple-1 is an unmodified NTI board in almost perfect condition on both front and back of the main board where you can see there have been no modifications or repairs.”
Photo: krishmiti/eBay
A vintage monitor is part of the package. “A period Sony TV-115, as recommended by Steve Jobs, with video modulator is included,” notes the seller, who goes by krishmiti on eBay.
If this auction reaches $1.75 million, it will far outstrip the selling prices for other Apple-1 units. A “Celebration” version sold this summer at a charity auction went for $815,000, less than half of the current auction’s starting price. An Apple-1 built into a briefcase went for $471,000 in May. A standard unit sold last year went for $375,000.
The record price is likely to be the $905,000 a museum paid back in 2014.
