Original iPhone Sells for Nearly $55,000 USD at Auction

Image: RR Auction

An extremely rare, factory-sealed original iPhone from 2007 in mint condition sold earlier this week for a whopping $54,904 USD at auction.

The iPhone 2G was put up for sale by a former Apple employee who purchased it in 2007 but also got one from work, so they ended up never opening this one. It was auctioned off as part of Amherst, New Hampshire-based RR Auction‘s “Steve Jobs and the Apple Computer Revolution” collection, bidding for which concluded on March 16.

Unopened first generation original Apple iPhone, Model A1203, Order MA712LL/A (8GB). The box features a life-size image of the iPhone with twelve icons on the screen, indicating that it is from the earliest production (2007); a 13th icon, for iTunes, came later in the year. In brand new, factory-sealed condition. Accompanied by an AT&T bag and leaflet regarding rate plans and iPhone activation. The consignor notes that he purchased this phone upon its release in 2007, but also received one through work as an Apple employee; this spare was therefore never opened.

Earlier this year, another unopened original iPhone fetched an all-time high price of $63,356.40. While the winning bid of $54,904 this time around fell shy of that record-setting figure, it’s still more than 90 times the iPhone 2G’s launch price of $599. Similar iPhones also sold for $39,340 USD as recently as October 2022.

Image: RR Auction

RR Auction’s Steve Jobs and the Apple Computer Revolution collection also included an “undiscovered” Apple-1 computer, signed by Steve “Woz” Wozniak, that wasn’t even known to have existed until now.

It was estimated to be worth an even more ludicrous $500,000 and sold for an as-yet undisclosed amount. Last year, a historic Apple-1 prototype sold for nearly $700,000.

Image: RR Auction

Also part of the auction was a bunch of Apple computers that once belonged to former Apple COO Del Yocam, including the one-millionth Apple Macintosh Plus unit produced by Apple, as well as technical instructions annotated by Steve Jobs, a Steve Jobs business card, and an iPhone‌ 11 signed by Apple CEO Tim Cook that sold for $12,501, $6,188, and $3,976, respectively.