Steve Jobs' Apple-1 Computer Prototype Is Up for Auction

The prototype "Apple Computer A" Apple-1 computer owned by Steve Jobs is up for auction by auction house RR Auction.

The computer motherboard, hand-assembled by Steve Wozniak in 1976, was used by Steve Jobs to demonstrate the Apple-1 to Paul Terrell, who owned The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California. He was the first to order 50 fully assembled devices and sold them for $666.66 each, thus becoming the first retail shop to sell the Apple-1.

According to RR Auctions, the board have been damaged:

The board appears to have been damaged by pressure on the upper right, resulting in a crack that runs from adjacent to the power supply area above D12 down through the bottom of the board to the right of A15. The missing piece is presumed to have been discarded, but can be reimagined thanks to Paul Terrell's photographs of the complete board. One of the distinguishing features of the "Apple Computer A" prototype was its use of three orange Sprague Atom capacitors, rather than the familiar 'Big Blue' capacitors used on the production Apple Computer 1.

The lot is expected to be worth over $500,000. Last year a rare Apple-1 computer, one of 200 computers designed by Wozniak, which was assembled in Jobs' home, was sold at auction for $400,000.

"Few Apple artefacts could be considered as rare, early, or historic as this Apple-1 prototype, which spent many years on the 'Apple Garage' property …"