A rare functional example of Apple’s first computer, the Apple 1, is on sale on eBay, with the seller asking for $ 1.5 million to have the privilege of owning a tech story.
According to the description of the item, first seen by IGN, the model is verified as original by Corey Cohen, an Apple 1 expert whose knowledge is often sought for evaluations at larger auctions.
Known as the “Canadian” of Mike Willegal’s Apple-1 record, the example on eBay is one of six known surviving units found in an original Byte Shop KOA wooden case. It includes an original power supply and a Datanetics version D keyboard, as well as a correct period Sony TV-115 monitor with video modulator.
According to the seller, the Apple 1 board is unmodified and is in an “almost perfect” condition. It is also one of the few remaining units to be fully operational, a point demonstrated when it operated for more than six hours a day while on display at the Vintage Computer Festival West in 2019.
Current owner Krishna B. Blake bought the Apple 1 in 1978 from its original owner as part of a change agreement for a new Apple II. Blake’s computer store in Montreal was responsible for the maintenance of Apple II prior to Apple’s entry into Canada.
Despite its genealogical and current status, the Apple 1 for sale through eBay may not get the asking price of $ 1.5 million from Blake. Other examples have approached the $ 1 million barrier, the closest being a 2014 sale worth $ 905,000, but more recent auctions have made bids below $ 500,000.
A total of 200 Apple 1 computers were manufactured, hand-made by company co-founder Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs ’garage in Los Altos, California. When the product was launched in 1976, it sold for $ 666.66 with no power supply, screen, keyboard or housing.