Working Apple I fetches 296,000 euros at auction

A still functioning Apple I from 1976 has fetched almost 300,000 euros at an auction at auction house Sotheby’s. The amount was double the estimated proceeds. There are probably only six working Apple I’s left in the world.

The Apple I, hand-built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976, fetched $374,500 at Sotheby’s in New York. That was well over the $180,000 estimate. Only about 200 Apple I devices were built and, as far as we know, fifty remain, only six of which are working. The original price was $666.66. The old device was auctioned including the original manual. It is not known who made the highest bid, but the battle was between two people and a telephone bidder ultimately won.

The Apple I had 8kB of ram and an 8-bit 6502 CPU running at 1MHz. Unlike many systems of the time, the device was not sold as a DIY kit, although users still had to add a power supply, housing and a keyboard. The device could be connected to a television. Some versions, such as the auctioned item, came with a cassette interface.

In addition to the Apple I, a memo from Steve Jobs from 1974 was also auctioned for $ 27,500. The four-page document was written during the time Jobs was with Atari. The then nineteen-year-old Jobs describes in the memo how the arcade game World Cup can be improved.