World’s first Apple computer goes under the hammer in New York

The world’s first Apple computer, widely acknowledged as heralding the personal computer revolution, is to be sold at auction by Bonhams, New York. The Apple-1 was one of 50 machines hand-built for the ByteShop by Apple pioneer Steve Wozniak in the summer of 1976 in the garage of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The model for sale was secured from the family of John Anderson, an Apple Mac enthusiast who acquired it in 1980 and kept it in perfect condition in a glass cabinet from 1989. Less than five Apple-1 operating units have come up for public sale in the past four years and all have had damage, repairs or modifications.

This is one of the best examples of a working early Apple-1 board that I have seen.

Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen

John Anderson’s machine was tested in August by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen, who said: “The condition is unlike the other Apple-1 computers that have come up for sale before. This one has had no modifications ever performed or removed; even the screws on the power regulators aren’t heat cycled.” Christina Geiger, director of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams said: “It is a great privilege to be selling this Apple-1 at auction. It has exceptional provenance and condition.” In addition to the beautifully intact motherboard, the Apple-1 comes with an original keyboard, power supply and Sanyo monitor. The machine has just 4kb of memory, which is tiny by today’s standard.

It will be the first Apple-1 to be publicly exhibited for auction in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is very gratifying to think of this computer returning to within 40 miles of its birthplace.

Christina Geiger, director of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams

Technology apple-1 auction