First Apple Computer May Fetch $240K

Original went for $666.66 in 1976
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 12, 2010 2:26 PM CST
First Apple Computer May Fetch $240K
Auction house Christie's is selling the first Apple computer, and the first personal computer with a fully assembled motherboard, at a London auction on Nov. 23.    (AP Photo/Christie's, Ho)

An Apple-1—the first computer Steve Jobs put into production—is expected to fetch a hefty price when it's auctioned at Christie's in London later this month, reports the New York Post. The Apple-1 bears little resemblance to modern-day desktop computers—and even less to the sleek iPhone and iPad that Jobs makes today. He shipped 200 units in 1976 from his parents' garage without a casing, "keyboard, monitor or power supply," says a Christie's spokesman.

But it "was the first home personal computer to feature a fully pre-assembled motherboard," he says. Enterprising '70s gearheads supplied the niceties. Christie's expects the computer, which also features the original packaging, manuals, and a signed letter by Jobs, to fetch $240,000—a far cry from the $666.66 it sold for in '76.
(More Steve Jobs stories.)

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