The Apple II may have gotten all the fame, but on Tuesday its older sibling took the prize. At Christie’s auction house in London, an Apple 1 was sold for a record price of 133,250 pounds, or about $210,295.
The original Apple model was introduced in 1976, only 200 were made, and an estimated 50 remain today. The unit sold at Christie’s had its original packaging, invoice and instruction manual, as well as a sales letter signed “respectfully yours” by Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak attended the auction and autographed a letter to add to the Apple 1 lot.
Enigma, Turing Papers
The Apple 1 was the first personal computer to have a fully assembled motherboard, meaning it could be used right out of the box as long as the customer had a keyboard, a power supply, and a screen. While primitive by today’s standards, the preassembled motherboard was a step up from the self-assembly kits that were prevalent at the time.
The product line ended in 1977, replaced by the highly successful Apple II, which made the company’s name. The Apple II included a keyboard, casing, sound and internal expansion slots.
The brisk bidding for the vintage Apple 1 was won by an Italian businessman and collector, Marco Boglione, who made his offers via phone. His brother, Francesco, attended the auction in person and told news media that his brother loves computers.
“The first time I had heard of the idea of a personal computer, it was from Marco,” he said. Franceso added that the Apple 1 will most likely be restored to working condition and join a growing collection of Apple computers.
For computer lovers, the Christie’s auction also had several other historic items. The famous German code-making machine, Enigma, was sold, as were writings from famed British…