It was the computer that laid the seeds of the company which would go on to become the most valuable tech company in the World. This is the Apple 1, a machine built by Apple’s iconic founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976
The pictured computer is An original Apple 1 computer from 1976 – one of only six still in working order – and it has just sold at auction in Germany for £440,000 / $650,000.
This computer was one of just 50 that Jobs constructed with Woz in the latters parents garage in the late 1970’s.
The winner of the auction remains anonymous, apparently an Asian man, and his prize consists of just a CPU and motherboard, which is inscribed with Wozniak’s signature.
This isn’t the first Apple 1 to fetch serious money, as last year one sold for £418,000 / $633,000
Only about 200 Apple 1s were ever made. About 46 remain in existence, but only six of those are still in working order.
Bob Luther, author of The First Apple, called the Apple 1 the “holy grail of collectable technology”. The computers are set to continue to soar in value, aided by the scarcity of the remaining six working devices. The German auction included an original monitor, tape player and keyboard, marking it out as possibly the final reminding, working example of a full 1976 Apple computer. To add further value, the documentation carries the late Steve Jobs signature.