Rare Apple-1 Computer Sells For Rs 10.9 Crore With Steve Jobs Letter, Wozniak Autograph

A rare and fully operational Apple-1 computer fetched $1.15 million (approximately Rs 10.9 crore) at a recent auction, the New York Post reported. The machine is one of the very few surviving units of Apple's first product. Referred to in collector circles as the 'Hatfield' Apple-1, the computer went under the hammer after an intense 28-minute bidding war between two competing buyers. 

According to the international auction house Bonhams, the final price sets a world record for a commercially released Apple-1 unit.

"We are delighted with this exceptional result for the 'Hatfield' Apple-1, one of the most important milestones in computing history," Ian Ehling, who is a director at Bonhams, an international auction house, said as quoted by the outlet. 

"It was an honor to offer Apple's first product during the company's 50th anniversary year."

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What attracted the collector's attention was the machine's history. The motherboard proudly features the physical signature of Steve Wozniak, who single-handedly designed and built the hardware back in 1976. 

Meanwhile, Steve Jobs handled the commercial side of their fledgling business venture.

Apart from the functioning computer, the winning lot also included a piece of computing history, which is a typed letter from 1978 signed by Steve Jobs himself. 

The letter addressed to the computer's original buyer, Fred Hatfield, offered an upgrade path to the newer Apple II model. 

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The package also came with original operations manuals, hardware components, and a typed invitation to join the exclusive "Apple I Owners Club".

Registered as machine No. 48 in the official Apple-1 Registry, this unit is part of a group of fewer than 75 surviving computers from that initial run.

Wozniak later also described how the Apple-1 was made. "I typed a few keys on the keyboard, and I was shocked!" he wrote in his memoir, iWoz.

"I didn't realise it at the time, but that day, Sunday, June 29, 1975, was pivotal. It was the first time in history anyone had typed a character on a keyboard and seen it show up on the screen right in front of them."