Working Apple I Computer Sets Auction Record At $632,590

There are just six of the original Apple computers in the world that still actually work, but only one of them was being shown off to bidders last Friday before going up for auction over the weekend.

Estimates where that the computer could fetch a staggering $400,000 but that quickly went out the window when the device raked in a mind blowing $632,590 at the Breker auction in Cologne, Germany.

With over 3000 times the processing power of the modern iMac, the Apple 1 isn’t going to be winning any performance benchmarks any time soon, but with it being the company’s first ever model it’s hundreds of times more expensive and endlessly more exclusive and rare.

Last year the same auction house sold one of the other six Apple I’s for $640,000 while a New York auction house sold one for $374,500 but that’s obviously nothing compared to the $632,590 that this most recent sale collected, making this the most expensive Apple computer to date.

Not only is this computer rare, but it was also hand built by Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple and while Apple might get a lot of stick these days for being money grabbers it’s amazing to see just how far the company has come and the Apple I is the crown jewel of that historic timeline.

With an original retail price of $666.66 in the mid 1970s it’s safe to say that the value of these computers have gone up considerably. The buyer has remained anonymous but Breker auction house did say that the “an Asian client has purchased a functioning 1976 Apple I at a record price.”

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Image courtesy of Breker