Vintage computer that helped launch Apple empire being sold at auction

A vintage Apple computer signed by company co-founder Steve Wozniak is being sold at auction.

The Apple-1 set in motion the company that in June became the first publicly traded business to close a trading day with a three trillion dollar market value, according to RR Auction in Boston.

The computer has been restored to a fully operational state and comes with a custom-built case with a built-in keyboard, the agency said.

The computer, which originally sold for about 666 dollars, is expected to sell for about 200,000 dollars (£157,000) at an auction that runs through to August 24.

An Apple-1 prototype sold last year for nearly 700,000 dollars (£548,000).

About 200 were manufactured in Steve Jobs’ garage in Los Altos, California, in 1976 and 1977 – and about 175 of them were sold, RR’s executive vice president Bobby Livingston said.

“It is the legendary computer that launched Apple,” he said.

Mr Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, and he agreed to buy 50 Apple-1 computers, but only if they were fully assembled, according to RR Auction.

The Apple-1 thus became one of the first personal computers that did not require soldering by the purchaser, RR said, although it did not come with a power supply, case, keyboard or monitor.

It was followed by the introduction of the Apple-2 in 1977, which revolutionised the personal computing industry.

The Apple-1 up for auction was signed “Woz” by Wozniak at an event at Bryant University in 2017. The signature “adds to the desirability”, Mr Livingston said.

It was acquired by the owner in 1980 at a computer hobbyist show in Framingham, Massachusetts, and was used throughout the 1980s. It was brought to an operational state earlier this year by Apple expert Corey Cohen, the auction house said.

The auction also includes Apple company cheque No 2, signed by Mr Jobs and Mr Wozniak and dated March 19, 1976.

The check for 116.97 dollars was made out to Ramlor, Inc, a circuit board maker, and experts think it was likely linked to the production of the first Apple-1 computers, RR Auction said.

The cheque was expected to sell for 50,000 dollars, but early bidding has already surpassed that.