Another one of the 50 original Apple I computers built in a garage by the Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak is on the auction block, and is expected to draw bids of up to half a million dollars.
The computer had to be soldered together by the buyer and cost $666.66 in 1976 – which is equivalent to $2796 today when inflation has been taken into account. If anyone does stump up the cash then the bad news for them is that it is literally only the motherboard (as above) – they will need to supply their own screen, keyboard and mouse.
The computer also boasted a 1mhz CPU and a whole 4KB of RAM.
Auctioneer Cassandra Hatton from Bonhams told how the computer’s authenticity was verified as one of the first 50 out of the Apple garage:
“This is from the first batch of 50 because they received an order from the Byte Shop who put inventory numbers on them with a security pen.”
The Apple I is reportedly in excellent condition, and was apparently only used one before it was traded into current owner Tom Romkey. Last year, Romkey sold another Apple I, which was in worse condition, for a record £563,904 (that is currently $856,090 USD). We’ll keep our eyes out for a final number on this auction.
