Steve Jobs' Rare Handwritten Apple-1 Ad Sold For Rs 1.44 Crore In Auction

We have seen legacy Apple devices like the first-generation iPhone and iPods fetching significant amounts in auctions. However, it is seldom to come across advertisements—especially handwritten ones—being sold for $1,75,759 or around Rs 1.44 crore. This is precisely the amount for which an Apple advertisement written by Steve Jobs was sold at the RR auction.

As spotted by MacRumors, the ad showcases details and features of the Apple-1 computer, along with additional information that Steve Jobs wished to include. “Board only + manual, $75. A real deal,” Steve Jobs mentioned in the ad. The ad draft paper features Steve Jobs’ signature, and it also includes his parents’ address—where Apple began.

MacRumors further points out that this ad draft matches the first print ad of the Apple-1 featured in the Interface magazine’s July 1976 edition. Additionally, as part of the auction, RR auction included two Polaroid images of the Apple, with a note from Jobs saying “fuzzy (photo) because camera wiggled.”

For those who are unfamiliar, the Apple 1 was an 8-bit desktop computer designed by Apple and was launched on April 11, 1976. It is known that both Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold their respective valuables to fund this project. The computer had a starting price of $666.66 and featured a MOS6502 processor clocked at 1MHz. Notably, the production of this desktop computer was stopped on September 30, 1977—a few months after Apple introduced the Apple-2.

In recent years, legacy Apple devices have commanded significant prices in auctions— benefiting both auction houses and the owners of these devices. In 2019, an Apple 1 computer, originally sold in 1976, was auctioned for a whopping £3,71,000, which is approximately Rs 3.8 crores in today’s currency conversion.

Moreover, this year, a first-generation sealed iPhone was sold for $63,356 (approximately Rs 53 lakh). This goes on to show the brand value that Apple has managed to build and how there continues to be a demand for vintage Apple products among collectors.