Vintage Apple machines tend to fetch a lot of money on the auction block. We tend to see them come up from time to time and the kind of money that they often fetch is truly mind-boggling. A rare Apple-1 computer in proper working condition is set to be auctioned off in May. It’s estimated to fetch over $320,000 at the auction. The lucky person who has pockets deep enough to buy this will truly be getting a piece of history.
Not only will they own one of the first computers that Apple ever made, they will also receive the manual and notes of phone calls with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the co-founders of Apple.
The auction is being conducted by Team Breker, a German auction house, which mentions that the original owner of this computer is now selling it. The original owner is an unnamed computer engineer from Berkeley, California.
This rare Apple-1 computer has been described as the “best-preserved example of an Apple-1 computer to have appeared on the market.” The Telegraph reports that it’s in full working condition and it may be one of the eight remaining working units left in the world today.
The person who buys it will receive the Apple-1’s original manual, the primary logo, circuit diagrams as well as a receipt from the motherboard and cassette interface. A letter from Apple customer care is included which advises that the customer shouldn’t upgrade to the Apple-II. The auction is going to take place in Cologne, Germany on May 20th.
This rare computer is estimated to fetch between $190,000 – $320,000. Previous auctions have seen Apple-1 computers be auctioned for as much as $671,000 but that was an extremely rare unit given that it was signed by Steve Wozniak.
The Henry Ford organization paid the most amount of money at an auction for an Apple-1 in late 2014, it holds the record for being the most expensive Apple-1 ever auctioned at an eye-watering $905,000.