This original iPhone just sold at auction for the highest price yet
An unopened iPhone that Apple released in 2007 has sold at auction for $63,356.40, or 105 times its retail price of $599.
The auction, handled by LCG Auctions, saw bidding start on February 2 at $2,500. The auction ended on February 19 after 27 bids, with bidding on the final day starting at $24,631.
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The sale is the highest price paid at auction for an unopened original iPhone and follows sales of the model for $35,414 in August and $39,339 in October 2022, according to LCG.
"Highly desirable factory sealed first-generation original Apple iPhone from 2007," the auction house notes in its description.
"One of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime, the iPhone was first introduced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007 at MacWorld San Francisco. Just over five months later it was released at retail for $499/$599 on June 29th. The original iPhone included 4/8 GB of storage, an innovative touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and a web browser. The iconic box featured a life-size image of the iPhone with 12 icons on the screen. It quickly became Apple's most successful product, forever changed the smartphone industry, and was named the Time Magazine Invention of the Year in 2007."
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Business Insider reports that the seller, Karen Green, was given the iPhone by friends in 2007. Green opted not to use it because the iPhone only worked on AT&T and she already had three phone lines with Verizon, which required her to pay high termination fees to leave. She kept the iPhone on a shelf, unopened.
Apple memorabilia in good condition typically fetches high prices at auctions. Several Apple I computers have sold for more than $500,000 over the years. These computers were produced in much smaller numbers than the iPhone.