March 3, 1975: The Homebrew Computer Club, a hobbyist group that will help spark the personal computing revolution, holds its first meeting in Menlo Park, California.
It becomes a welcome forum for computer geeks at a time when few others care about the nascent technology. Regular attendee Steve Wozniak and his friend Steve Jobs will eventually show off the first Apple-1 computer at the club.
December 8, 1975: San Francisco Bay Area entrepreneur Paul Terrell opens the Byte Shop, one of the world’s first computer stores — and the first to sell an Apple computer.
Years before Apple would open its own retail outlets, the Byte Shop stocks the first 50 Apple-1 computers built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
November 23, 2010: An early Apple-1 computer manufactured in 1976, complete with its original packaging and a letter signed by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, sells for $210,000.
At the time, it ranks as the most expensive personal computer ever sold at auction. That makes sense, because it’s an incredibly rare find. The working Apple-1 is thought to be one of only approximately 50 still in existence.
April 11, 1976: Apple releases its first computer, the Apple-1.
Designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak, the computers are sold wholesale by “Steven” Jobs. To finance their manufacturing, Wozniak sells his HP-65 calculator for $500, while Jobs sells his Volkswagen van.
You have the opportunity to wrap yourself in a piece of Apple history: the bomber jacket Steve Jobs was wearing in an iconic photo of the Apple co-founder “flipping the bird” to an IBM sign.
It’s part of Steve Jobs and the Apple Revolution, an auction that just kicked off featuring nearly 300 items.
A unique bit of Apple history just went up for auction: Apple Computer check “No. 2” signed by company co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Bidding for the $116.97 check is already up to more than $55,000.
A number of other rare Apple items are also up for sale, some signed by Jobs.
An Apple museum could be made of just the items currently up for bid at a single auction. There’s a fully functional Apple-1, an Apple Lisa 1, some technical notes handwritten by Steve Jobs, an original iPhone still sealed in the plastic and much, more.
Many of these items are expected to bring in big bucks.
In 1976, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs demonstrated a prototype Apple-1 computer to the owner of The Byte Shop. That lead to a deal that launched Apple on its path to success.
That prototype is now up for auction. It’s expected to sell for $500,000.
A restored Apple-1 in good working order might see a winning bid of $485,000 in an upcoming auction. That’s not just because the antique computer is nearly all original and actually works. It’s also because Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signed it.
The first computer built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak is the Apple-1, right? Not quite. Turns out before that was the “Apple Computer A.”
Unfortunately, the actual Apple prototype with that name was not found. But pictures of it from 1976 were. And they show details of this handmade Apple prototype.
From time to time you hear about Apple’s first computer, the Apple 1, selling to collectors at auction for big bucks. But did you know some of those surviving antiques carry an enduring mystery? For decades, no one could figure out who wrote the serial numbers on their circuit boards. Until now.
Lots of Apple fans know the company’s first product was the Apple-1 personal computer. Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs initially put the machines together in a garage in 1976. Now one unit in their early run of 200, known as the “Chaffey College Apple-1” because its first owner taught there, has sold at auction for $500,000.
As many Apple fans knows, the company’s first products was the Apple-1 personal computer, initially put together in a garage by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1976. Now one unit in their early run of 200, known as the “Chaffey College Apple-1” because its first owner taught there, is going up for auction November 9 with a starting bid of $200,000.
This Apple collector’s item post is brought to you by apple-1-manuals.com.
In 1976, the Apple-1 became the future Cupertino tech giant’s first product. Fewer than 70 of the devices remain today, only six of them believed to be in working order. And even the original Apple-1 Operation Manual is incredibly collectible. But now you can get a faithful re-creation of the manual — the product of hundreds of hours of work — for your very own.
You can find basic copies of the original on cheap printer paper, but Armin Hierstetter, a German entrepreneur and retro computer enthusiast, took it upon himself to do it better.
An ultra-rare Apple-1, the first computer Apple ever produced as a company, is coming up for auction. And it’s signed by none other than designer and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
This Apple-1, one of only a handful of the computers thought to exist today, has been restored to an operational state. It comes in its original shipping box, making it an even less common specimen. It could be yours for no more than the price of a typical mid-priced American home.
Russian company Caviar is known for producing blinged-out Apple devices that would make billionaire fat cats and 2000-era rappers say “that’s a bit over-the-top.”
But its latest creations, infinitely more humble and low-fi in appearance, are easily my favorite of its customized devices. Caviar will produce a pair of iPhone 12 models patterned after the original Apple-1 computer, as built in 1976.
A fully functional and complete Apple-1 computer, hand-built by Apple founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs back in 1976, was auctioned off yesterday for over $458 thousand.
There are only a handful of these left. This particular unit appeared recently on the TV show Pawn Stars.
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.
August 25, 2016: An ultra-rare Apple-1 computer raises $815,000 in a charity auction, one of the highest prices ever paid for one of the machines. Bidding actually reaches $1.2 million in the auction’s final minutes. However, that bid gets pulled seconds before a winner is announced.
The reason for the super-high price? This “Celebration” Apple-1 boasts a feature that did not appear on any production models of the computer.
Only 70 Apple 1 computers are known to exist. But collectors gathered twelve of them over the weekend for the annual Vintage Computer Festival West at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif.
This is no small feat considering the fragility and rarity of the humble machine that launched a computing revolution — and one of the world’s most influential companies.
“They are the computers that started Apple,” Dag Spicer, senior curator for the museum, told Cult of Mac. “People are completely blown away.”
You would have to ride in a time machine back to 1976 and that garage on Crist Drive in Los Altos, Calif., to find 10 Apple 1 computers in the same space.
But this weekend, 10 or more will be displayed at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif., for the annual Vintage Computer Festival West.
About half the machines will be working.
Bidding was apparently hot and heavy for a computer manual for the Apple-1, this company’s very first computer. In a multi-day online auction for this rare bit of tech history, the top bid was under $10,000 only a few days ago but in the end the document sold for $12,956.
Unless you’re Scrooge McDuck, an international arms dealer or some other wealthy individual, chances are that you won’t be able to afford an Apple-1 at auction anytime soon.
But don’t give up hope of owning a piece of Apple’s first computer. An extremely rare original Apple-1 manual (remember when computers came with those?) has just come up for sale. And it’s only expected to cost $10,000!
A rare Apple-1 computer built by Steve Wozniak in 1976 has sold for $471,000 in a Christie’s auction.
According to the Apple-1 Registry of known Apple-1 computers, this is number 10 of just 68 thought to be still in existence. Only 200 Apple-1 computers were ever made.
Want to own one of the very first computers Apple ever launched? You very well could, thanks to a Christie’s auction selling an Apple-1 personal computer, circa 1976.
This model comes complete with original instruction manuals, supporting hardware, and “additional ephemera.” However, with an asking price of up to $630,000, you may have to get a second mortgage or sell a vital organ to get hold of it!