One of Apple's first ever computers is expected to fetch up to $600,000 at auction.
Apple
Just a few Apple-1 computers remain in existence and one is set to go under the hammer on Tuesday (09.11.21), with John Moran Auctioneers opening the bids at $200,000.
The Californian auction house expect the 45-year-old machine - which is regarded as a "holy grail" for collectors of vintage tech as it was one of just 200 computers tested and designed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak - to sell for between $400,000 and $600,000 and Apple-1 experts predict around $500,000.
The computer was one of 50 sold to the ByteShop in Mountain View, California, and it was bought by a Chafee College electronics professor, who went on to sell it to a student in 1977 in order to upgrade it to an Apple II and the former pupil has owned it ever since.
The machine has undergone an “extensive authentication, restoration, and evaluation process”, and is one of around 60 Apple-1s still in existence, and one of just 20 that still works.
The computer is one of six that was encased in Koa wood and it comes with a Panasonic video monitor, a copy of the basic Apple-1 manual and operations guide, an original programming manual, two software cassette tapes and three original video, power and cassette interface cables.
The auction house have already received phoned-in bids ahead of the official sale start.
Nathan Martine, advertising and marketing director at John Moran, said: “When you see certain items, you just know that they’re going to be showstoppers. The Apple-1 is one of those.”
In 2014, an Apple-1 unit was sold for $905,000 by a New York auction house.
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