While most of the Apple faithful will be focused on Wednesday’s unveiling of new iPhones, a new Apple Watch and, perhaps, a new iPad, old school fans are setting their sites on Sept. 25.
That’s the date for a live auction in Boston, where an Apple-1 computer, one of the first products the company made and one of the rarest tech items around, will go up for bids. Officials expect it to sell for $300,000.
That might be a low estimate, too. Christie’s auction house notes that roughly 50 Apple-1 computers still exist, with many being displayed at museums around the world, like the Smithsonian Museum of Art. That makes it a notable event when one goes on the block.
Last June, an Apple-1 sold for $355,000 at a Christie’s auction. In 2016, one sold for a whopping $815,000. And in 2014, The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. bought an Apple I computer in outstanding condition for $905,000.
The Apple-1 is hardly a computer by today’s standards. It didn’t come with a keyboard or monitor. It was largely just a circuit board. But at the time, it was among the first computers that came “assembled”.
What makes this one unique is it’s still functional and hasn’t been modified.
Bidding on the device will begin at 1 p.m. on Tuesday the 25th.