Apple-1 computer from 1976 is going up for auction, it could fetch over Rs 4.5 crore

Apple's first computer, the Apple-1 from 1976, is heading to auction at Sotheby's New York on July 15, where it is expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000. The machine is one of only around 20 still-functioning units out of the 200 originally made.

In Short

• An original 1976 Apple-1 computer is heading to auction
• It is expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000
• This is one of the only 200 computers made by Apple of 1976

In July 1976, Apple launched its first product – the Apple-1, a computer model hand-built by one of the company's founders, Steve Wozniak. Now, nearly 50 years later, one of the only 200 made still functioning Apple-1 computer purchased from the Byte Shop in Berkeley, California, in 1976 is heading to auction at Sotheby’s in New York.

When the live auction takes place on July 15, the working machine is part of the auction house's "Geek Week" sales and is expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000, that is up to 4.77 crore in INR.

In fifty years, things have changed so much. Over time, digital gadgets may lose relevance, but their value seems to keep increasing. For the Apple-1 computer, which was originally priced at $666.66, if it sold at $500,000, that would mean its value increased by roughly 749 times its original price over the past five decades.

The store that started it all

The Byte Shop, the store from which this particular Apple-1 was purchased, holds a significant place in computing history. Paul Terrell opened the original Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, on December 8, 1975, making it one of the world's first personal computer retail stores. Terrell was a computer hobbyist and businessman who wanted to help bring personal computers to everyday people, at a time when the home PC market barely existed.

The store's connection to Apple goes back to the very beginning. Months after opening, Steve Jobs approached Terrell at the Byte Shop, pitching a circuit board kit called the Apple-1. Jobs originally envisioned it as a build-it-yourself machine for hobbyists, one where buyers would have to solder chips onto the board themselves and source their own keyboard and display. Terrell was interested, but on one condition: the computers had to come fully assembled. He promised to buy 50 units at $500 each, paid in cash on delivery.

That single request changed everything. Jobs and Wozniak delivered the Apple-1 to Terrell in July 1976, and it went on sale for $666.66. By pushing for a finished, ready-to-use product, Terrell unknowingly set Apple on the path of making technology that anyone could pick up and use.

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