In a few short weeks, the last remaining Apple I computer in the world — sold by Steve Jobs — will be up for auction courtesy of Christie’s Auctions . Although the 248-year auctioneer estimates that the hardware will sell between $400,000 and $600,000, a similar machine was sold (also at an auctioned) to the Henry Ford Museum for $905,000 at the end of October, 2014.
This first generation of Apple computers were sold directly out of Jobs’ parents’ garage in 1976 and include 100 units purchased by a local computer store and another hundred units sold to customers directly from the garage. All 200 of units were hand-built by Wozniak himself.
The Apple I that will be auctioned next month was originally purchased by a gentleman named Charles Rickets from Steve Jobs on July 27, 1976, and includes a canceled checked labeled “purchased July 1976 from Steve Jobs in his parents’ garage in Los Altos,” to confirm its authenticity. A second check from August 5 of that same year is labelled “Software NA programmed by Steve Jobs August 1976.”
Hardware-wise we’re looking at a single motherboard with 60 ICs. These include the famous 8-bit MOS 6502 clocked at 1MHz that was later used to power the BBC Micro, Atari 2600, and even the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Not unlike the Apple of today, its 1976-incarnation required the purchasing of additional outside components for full use; the power supply, keyboard, and television (which served as the monitor), were not included. Another fun fact: the original Apple I did not include a case; users needed to build their own. The image above shows a handmade case for the Apple I on display at the Smithsonian.
If Christie’s winds up auctioning the Apple I for more than $1,000,000, it will go down in history as the most expensive computer relic ever sold.
Source: ExtremeTech
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