An early Apple Inc device sold by Steve Jobs from his parents’ garage goes under the hammer in New York next month valued at US$400,000 to US$600,000 in an increasingly competitive computer relic market.
Christie’s says the Apple-1 is the only surviving such computer documented to have been sold directly by the late Apple founder to a customer from the garage in Los Altos, California.
It goes on sale in New York on Dec. 11, the auction house said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
FIRST EVER
The Apple-1 is considered a vanguard of the PC revolution, being the first pre-assembled personal computer ever sold.
Christie’s says its estimated value of US$400,000 to US$600,000 is the highest pre-sale estimate for an Apple-1 offered at auction.
Institutions have snapped up relics of computing history, making it rare for private collectors to acquire original specimens on the market, and prices are rising.
Last month, auction house Bonhams sold an Apple-1 built by Jobs’ business partner Steve Wozniak for US$905,000 in New York.
MOST EXPENSIVE
Considered the world’s most expensive computer relic, it was bought by the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Last year, Christie’s sold a 1976 Apple-1 for US$387,750 and in 2010 another for ￡133,250 in London — US$212,267 at the time.
In related news, British Dark Knight star Christian Bale has pulled out of a planned biopic of the late Apple founder, industry media reported on Monday.
Bale — the second actor to decline the role after Leonardo DiCaprio — discussed the part with Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, but no deal was reached, industry journal Variety said.
‘NOT RIGHT’
The Oscar-winning star had conflicting feelings about the role and concluded that he simply was not right for it, sources told the Hollywood Reporter.
The Apple inventor’s storied life has already been rendered on the big screen in last year’s drama Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher, which received only lukewarm reviews.
Bale received a best supporting actor Oscar in 2011 for his role in The Fighter, in which he plays the older brother of a washed-up boxer struggling to revive his career.
The actor had a breakout performance as the lead actor in the 2000 movie American Psycho and also earned a lead actor Oscar nomination for his turn in last year’s American Hustle.
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