First-generation 2007 iPhone, still in the box, sells for record-breaking $92,000 at auction
One lucky bidder has paid a hefty sum – more than 100 times its original retail price – for a first-generation iPhone from 2007
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You might have thought new iPhones were expensive to buy, but how much would you expect to pay for a first generation iPhone from 2007?
One lucky bidder has paid $US63,356.40 (more than $92,000) for one – or more than 100 times its original retail price – at an auction over the weekend.
It is the highest price paid at auction for an unopened first generation iPhone.
The phone was sold by LCG auctions on February 19 after 27 bids and for $US13,000 more than expected. Bidding started on February 2 at $US2500 (more than $3600).
“Highly desirable factory sealed first-generation original Apple iPhone from 2007,” the auction house said in its description of the phone.
“The original first-release iPhone in factory sealed condition is widely regarded as a blue-chip among high-end collectors.”
The phone’s first owner Karen Green had it appraised in 2019 on the Treasure Hunt segment of the daytime television showThe Doctor & The Diva. It was estimated to be worth $US5000 (more than $7300) because it was an 8GB, not the smaller 4GB, and still sealed.
Ms Green said at the time she received the phone in 2007 as a gift from her friends after landing a new job. But because she recently bought a new phone, she decided not to open it.
“I didn’t want to get rid of my phone, and I figured it’s an iPhone, so it will never go out of date,” she said on the show.
Ms Green told Business Insider that she kept the phone on a shelf wrapped in a pair of felt pyjamas for extra safety and considered selling it a few times before finally taking the leap to get money to support her new cosmetic tattoo business.
“If I could hold off on the phone for like another 10 years, I probably would,” she told the publication, but offered it LCG auctions when she saw the success of another first-release iPhone auction.
LCG auctions founder Mark Montero said the piece was “a really unique piece with a great story behind it”.
The iPhone was first introduced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007 at MacWorld in San Francisco. It was released for sale five months later.
The first generation iPhone included 4 or 8 GB of storage, a 3.5 inch touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and a web browser and a host of other applications. It was named Time Magazine Invention of the Year in 2007.
The latest iPhone 14 includes between 128 GB and 512GB of storage, a 6.1-inch touch screen, and a 12 megapixel camera and up to 4K video recording capabilities. It also, undoubtedly, contains a host of additional features and upgrades that first-generation iPhone holders may not have dreamt of in 2007.
The sale is the highest price paid at auction for an unopened original iPhone and follows similar sales of $US35,414 ($51,836) in August 2022 and $US39,339 ($57,481) in October 2022, according to LCG.
Apple memorabilia in good condition typically fetches high prices at auctions, and several Apple I computers have sold for more than $400,000 over the years.
Originally published as First-generation 2007 iPhone, still in the box, sells for record-breaking $92,000 at auction
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