An Apple I for sale on Ebay: it was built and designed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

The great thing about Ebay is that you can find everything and more, and it's a valuable source for collectors of all kinds. Among other things, there are several old PCs for sale, nowadays considered collectible models, which remain imbued with that vintage charm due to the age that they bring with them, and that we all like a little. And among them, old models of Apple computers are found.

What we are talking about today, however, is special, in fact we are talking about the first Apple branded car: the Apple I, built and designed by the hands and minds of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the garage where everything was born , in Los Altos , in California.

The firmware behind this machine was based on the MOS Technologies 6502 chip (an 8-bit microprocessor, which at the time of its commercialization was the cheapest on the market by well one sixth compared to the competition), and adapted for the occasion by Wozniak himself. The Apple I units that were put into production only reach 200, priced at $ 666. And of these, only the first 50 were built directly by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak .

The Apple I model designed by Steve Jobs and Wozniak for sale on Ebay

Just one of these first 50 copies, still fully functional (and remember, dated 1976 – 1977), was put up for sale on eBay, by a user who claims to have obtained it as a trade-in for an Apple II back in 1978.

The listing on Ebay , an auction in which at the time of this writing reached a value of $ 1.5 million , reads:

“ This is a fully functional original Apple-1 computer system verified in excellent condition in its original Byte Shop KOA wooden case, with original power supply and Datanetics version D keyboard. The provenance of this Apple-1 system can be seen at number 79 of the Apple-1 official register , as second owner. I took possession in early 1978 from the original owner as part of a trade-in for a newer Apple II computer at the computer store where I kept all Apple IIs in Montreal, Canada, until Apple came to Canada. The transformer area on the case has recently been reinforced, to avoid damage as done on other similar Apple-1 cases in the past as the adhesive deteriorates over time. Included in sale: Digital copies of original owner's manuals, schematics, basic manual, cassette interface and guides. Software including base language, games, low and high memory tests, 30th anniversary video and more… as originally shipped with the components. "

A little history of the Apple I.

On March 5, 1975, one of the first computer enthusiast clubs met. The meeting was held on the occasion of the arrival in the area of ​​the Altair 8800 presentation tour , which surely we all know. It was one of the first microcomputers that had an affordable price even for ordinary users. Steve Wozniak was an electronics enthusiast, and it was thanks to that first meeting that he had the desire to build his own computer .

Wozniak thus began to work and draw the computer diagram , but when it came to choosing the microprocessor to use, the problems began. The Altair 8800 was based on an Intel 8080, but Wozniak didn't even consider it because it cost $ 179 at the time. He then evaluated the Motorola 6800, used on one of the computers that intrigued him most (the Data General Nova), but this too cost too much for the fixed budget. Wozniak then continued with his project, but without being able to get his hands on some microprocessor. Later, Wozniak learned that MOS Technology had marketed a processor that cost only $ 25 , the MOS 6502, and so he decided to adopt it as the CPU for his computer.

The article An Apple I for sale on Ebay: It was built and conceived by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak comes from Tech CuE .