An original Apple-1 prototype that was owned by the late Steve Jobs is headed to auction, this is one of the original devices that were hand soldered by Steve Wozniak.
This could be one of the most popular Apple-1 computers sold to date and it is expected to fetch around $500,000.
Historic early prototype example of the computer that started it all—Steve Jobs’s own Apple-1 Computer prototype, hand-soldered by Steve Wozniak on a unique “Apple Computer A” printed circuit board. In 1976, Jobs used this prototype to demonstrate the Apple-1 to Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. The demo resulted in Apple Computer’s first big order and changed the course of the company—what Jobs and Woz had conceived as part of a $40 do-it-yourself kit for hobbyists became, at Terrell’s request, a fully assembled personal computer to be sold at $666.66. Wozniak later placed Terrell’s purchase order for fifty Apple-1s in perspective: ‘That was the biggest single episode in all of the company’s history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.’
The board has been matched to Polaroid photographs taken by Paul Terrell in 1976 showing the prototype in use, first published by Time Magazine in 2012 and also covered by Achim Baqué of the Apple-1 Registry. This Apple-1 prototype, listed as #2 on the Apple-1 Registry and considered ‘lost’ until recently, was examined and authenticated in 2022 by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen. It is accompanied by Cohen’s notarized thirteen-page report.
You can find out more details about the auction for the Apple-1 prototype computer over at the auctioneer’s website at the link below.
Source & Image Credit: RR Auction
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