Historic Apple 1 computer sold at auction

  • Published
Apple 1Image source, AFP
Image caption,
The Apple 1 sold for way under the estimated price

A fully operational Apple 1 computer has been sold at auction for $365,000 (£230,000).

It is the only machine known to have been personally sold by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, from a garage in California in 1976.

Fewer than 50 Apple 1 computers are now believed to be in existence.

Yet despite its rarity, the machine was sold at way below auction house Christie's estimate of $400,000-$600,000.

In October, the Henry Ford organization paid $905,000 for one of the computers.

The original Apple Computer - now referred to as the Apple 1 - was hand-made by Steve Wozniak, an engineer who co-founded Apple, with Jobs, in the 1970s. When new, the machines sold for $666.66.

To finance the building of the machines, Jobs sold his VW van, while Wozniak sold a calculator for $500.