Rare Apple Prototypes and Apple-1 Go Up for Auction - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Rare Apple Prototypes and Apple-1 Go Up for Auction

Unique Apple products, vintage devices, prototypes, and documents signed by Steve Jobs often fetch thousands of dollars when sold off, and RR Auction is auctioning off a new round of rare Apple products as of today.

apple 1 rr auction
An operational Apple-1 Computer with is up for sale, and could fetch up to $300,000. The machine is known as the "Bayville" Apple-1, and is number 91 on the Apple-1 Registry. The Apple-1 was the first computer sold by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and a limited number of the machines remain available.

The Apple-1 is in good condition with clear labeling and no peeling on the board. It comes with an original manual with a handwritten note by Daniel Kottke, who was Apple employees number 12.

There are two checks signed by Steve Jobs that could sell for upwards of $25,000, and a rare Apple II Computer with and Rev. 0 logic board and ventless case that could sell for $30,000.

steve jobs check rr auction
Several EVT (Engineering Validation Test) prototype devices are up for auction as well, such as a Macintosh Portable in a clear case. The Macintosh Portable, released in 1989, was the first battery-powered Apple laptop. Because it weighed more than 16 pounds and was expensive, it wasn't a major success and there are few available, and fewer with a prototype transparent case. Given the rarity of the device, it could sell for $50,000+.

clear mac prototype rr auction
There are also EVT or PVT versions of the iPod Classic, iMac G3, Power Mac G4 Cube, Power Macintosh, and Macintosh TV, all of which could sell for thousands.

All of the Apple devices up for sale can be found on the RR Auction site.

Tag: Apple-1

Top Rated Comments

14 months ago
Really interesting, the prototype portable looks awesome.

Only issue with buying such devices is that you really need special storage in terms of controlled humidity, temperature and light to ensure that the devices don’t degrade rapidly. Then there’s the insurance and exactly where to store them.

Was pretty sad when I seen some of LGR’s collection get damaged by a tree falling through house in a storm.

I hope more of these end up in museums rather than private collections and not on display.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Heindijs Avatar
14 months ago
I like how in the cheque he seemingly first wrote '1975' then realised what year it was.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
14 months ago

Fascinating that they experimented with translucent cases several years before Ive joined Apple, and well before the original iMac.
Not an experiment, the prototypes had clear cases back then, there are transparent Newtons and several laptops from that era.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPay Avatar
14 months ago
Nice relics!
They quickly reverted to opaque casing so nobody could see the dearth of RAM inside :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
14 months ago
Expecting everything to be sold off in the auction. The working computer might fetch more than the expected amount. Everything is a collector's item.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalsta Avatar
14 months ago

Not an experiment, the prototypes had clear cases back then, there are transparent Newtons and several laptops from that era.
Okay, so it took Jony and Steve to realise that they actually looked good enough to take to market!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)