Yahoo News Apple 1 Computer Sells For Record £441,000
One of only six surviving Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) 1 computers still in working order has sold for a record 516,461 euros (£441,532).
An unknown telephone bidder from the Far East (Kuala Lumpur: 5029.KL - news) bought the device during an auction in Cologne, Germany.
The Apple 1 smashed pre-auction estimates, which had predicted a price of 200,000 to 300,000 euros, according to Uwe H Breker, the auctioneer and boss of Auction Team Breker.
The computer, which was designed and hand built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, was released in 1976. It came as a motherboard only and sold for $666.66.
Only 200 units are thought to have been produced, with 46 now believed to be in existence - of which six are still in working order.
The device sold in Germany was signed by Mr Wozniak and came with an original monitor, tape-player, keyboard and documentation with the signature of Steve Jobs.
"It's really the holy grail of collectable technology," said Bob Luther, the author of The First Apple.
The first batch of 50 Apple 1 computers were built by Jobs and Wozniak in Jobs' family garage and were delivered to the Byte Shop for $500 per unit.
Other items sold at the auction included an Apple Lisa-1, which went under the hammer for 34,000 euros (£29,000). Designed in the early 80s, the device was only produced for one year.
Despite Apple's humble beginnings in a suburban garage, it has grown to become one of the world's biggest companies, with a market value of more than $400bn (£342bn).
More From Sky News
