Original Apple iPhone Still Sealed In Its Plastic Reaps Five Figures

Where would many be today without the iPhone?

The Apple iPhone revolutionized what a phone in the modern day should be, in that it can’t be just a phone. It packs essential features you can access from anywhere without having to carry a spare calendar, notebook, compass, or camera. All of this is stashed in an intuitive handheld device that has since evolved to become nearly buttonless.

There was one person, however, who never got to unwrap their first-generation 8 GB iPhone—or, at least, this unit. And that person was generously rewarded for it.

When the original 8 GB iPhone launched in 2007, it was priced at US$599. The owner of this very handset made over US$35,000 from it 15 years later.

The Model A1203 iPhone, in factory-sealed condition and still preserved in its original box and plastic wrap, was one of the items listed at RR Auction’s Apple, Jobs, and Computer Hardware sale, joining over 70 tech relics like a long-lost Apple-1 Computer prototype built by Steve Wozniak and kept by Steve Jobs; and a check for $9.18 issued by Jobs.

The box it was sold in displays a lifesize photo of the smartphone with 12 app icons on the homescreen. This indicates that the unit was part of the first production for the original iPhone, as a second rollout portrayed 13 icons to include the just-new iTunes.

The Apple-1 Computer prototype raked in US$677,196, and Steve Jobs’ $9.18 check ended up selling for $55,000. There was also an unopened first-generation iPod that went under the hammer for uS$25,000.

[via AppleInsider and ZDNet, images via RR Auction]