Factory sealed iPhone 1 from 2007 sold at auction for $39,000 – over 50 TIMES its original price

An unopened, first generation iPhone from 2007 has been sold at an auction for more than 50 times its original price.

With a starting bid of $2,800 (£2,500), the 15-year-old device was expected to bring in at least $30,000 (£26,700), but ended up fetching a whopping $39,000 (£34,700), according to LCG Auctions.

The first iPhone was introduced by Apple founder Steve Jobs in January 2007 at MacWorld San Francisco, with the slogan ‘Apple reinvents the phone’.

That June, the 8 GB version was released to the public at $599 – or £269 at the time – and proved revolutionary in the development of smartphones.

The auction house described it as ‘one of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime’.

The first iPhone, referred to unofficially as the ‘iPhone 1’ or ‘iPhone 2G’, came with either 4, 8 or 16 GB of storage and a 2 megapixel camera

IPHONE VS IPHONE 14 PRO 

Name: iPhone            

Display size: 3.5 inches

Mass: 135 g

Rear camera quality: 2.0 MP

Storage: 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB                

Original retail price:  £269 / $599

First generation iPhone 

Name: iPhone 14 Pro

Display size: 6.1 inches

Mass: 206 g 

Rear camera quality: 48 MP

Storage: 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB

Original retail price:  £1,099 / 999

iPhone 14 Pro

The first iPhone, referred to unofficially as the ‘iPhone 1’ or ‘iPhone 2G’, came with either 4, 8 or 16 GB of storage and a 2 megapixel camera.

This is a far cry from the 1 TB of storage and 48 megapixel camera offered by the latest iPhone 14 Pro. 

Its iconic touchscreen and layout of apps forever changed the smartphone industry, and was named the Time Magazine Invention of the Year in 2007.

It became Apple’s most successful product, selling over 6.1 million units worldwide.

Since its release, it garnered fierce competition from other tech giants like Google and Samsung, who were desperate to replicate its success.

The iPhone remains one of the world’s most popular brands of smartphone, but has changed its look since the first model was released.

The original iPhone still had a headphone jack, home button and large borders around its relatively tiny 3.5-inch display.

It also pre-dated the front-facing ‘selfie’ camera, and had only a single lens on the rear.

In terms of functionality, the iPhone could not use 3G to access the internet or copy and paste, but its lack of any sort of keyboard changed mobile phones forever.

The lot description reads: ‘This factory sealed, first-release example is in exceptional condition. 

‘Virtually flawless along the surface and edges, the factory seal is clean with correct seam details and tightness. 

‘Labels on the reverse are correctly pristine beneath the seal. All original – no aftermarket stickers or UPC labels on this one. Brand new, never activated.

‘Collectors and investors would be hard pressed to find a superior example.

‘Relevance and rarity comprise a winning formula for this red hot collectable.’

There were 28 bids made for the boxed device on Sunday, with the final one being registered four seconds after the auction was closed.

It was on January 9 2007 that late Apple founder, Steve Jobs, went on stage at the company´s Macworld event to announce it was about to reveal ‘an iPod, a phone and an internet communicator’

The auction house described the iPhone as ‘one of the most important and ubiquitous inventions of our lifetime’. After its release, it became Apple’s most successful product, selling over 6.1 million units worldwide

The iPhone 1 isn’t the only retro Apple product bringing in the big bucks. 

In August, Steve Jobs’s original ‘Apple Computer A’ prototype was sold at auction for $677,196 (£601,500).

Considered ‘lost’ until recently, the prototype was hand-soldered by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in 1976 – the year the company was established. 

The ‘rare’ and ‘historic’ item is essentially a circuit board covered in chips and wires, embossed with the words ‘Apple Computer A ©76’.   

It was a prototype for the Apple-1, the firm’s first ever product, which was sold as an assembled circuit board and lacked basic features such as a keyboard or monitor.

The Apple-1 went on sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66, because Wozniak ‘liked repeating digits’, and not as a reference to the number of the beast. 

In all, only 200 Apple-1 computers were made before the product was discontinued the following year, 175 of which were sold. 

In August , Steve Jobs’s original ‘Apple Computer A’ prototype was sold at auction for $677,196 (£601,500) 

THE TRILLION DOLLAR RISE OF APPLE

The company’s journey to the summit of the technology industry has been a rocky one, having seen Jobs (pictured right in 1976) leave the firm in the mid-1980s after his pet project, the first Macintosh computer, struggled and he attempted to oust then chief executive John Sculley. Wozniak is pictured left  

1976: Founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne created the company on April 1 1976 as they set about selling computer kits to hobbyists, each of which was built by Wozniak.

The first product was the Apple I. 

1977: Apple released the Apple II in June, which was the first PC made for the mass market. 

1981: Jobs became chairman.  

1984: The Macintosh was introduced during an ad break for the Super Bowl and later officially unveiled during a launch event. It was discontinued a year later and Jobs left the firm.

1987: Apple released the Macintosh II, the first colour Mac.

1997: Apple announces it will acquire NeXT software in a $400 million deal that involves Jobs returning to Apple as interim CEO. He officially took the role in 2000.  

2001: Apple introduced iTunes, OS X and the first-generation iPod.

The first iPod MP3 music player was released on October 23, 2001, at an event in Cupertino and was able to hold up to 1,000 songs.

Steve Jobs unveils Apple Computer Corporation’s new Macintosh February 6, 1984 in California.

The then Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Steve Jobs, with the iPhone

2007: Apple unveils the iPhone. 

2010: The first iPad was unveiled.

2011: Jobs resigned in 2011 due to illness, handing the CEO title to Tim Cook. Job died in October from pancreatic cancer.

2014: Apple unveiled the Apple Watch. It also unveiled its first larger iPhones – the 6 and 6 Plus. 

2015: After purchasing Beats from Dr Dre, Apple launched Apple Music to compete with Spotify and other music streaming services. 

Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks at an Apple event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

2016: Apple returned to its roots and announced the 4-inch iPhone SE. Meanwhile, the firm is embroiled in a legal battle with the FBI, involving the agency demanding access to the locked phone used by Syed Farook, who died in a shootout after carrying out a deadly December attack in San Bernardino, California with his wife. The court order was dropped on March 28 after the FBI said a third party was able to unlock the device.  

2017: Apple introduces the iPhone X, which removes the home button to make way for a futuristic edge-to-edge screen design and a new FaceID system that uses advanced sensors and lasers to unlock phones with just the owner’s face.    

2018: In a first for the company, Apple introduces new features in its latest operating system, iOS 12, that encourage users to manage and spend less time on their devices. The move was spawned by a strongly worded letter from shareholders that urged the firm to address the growing problem of smartphone addiction among kids and teenagers. 

2019: In January, Apple reports its first decline in revenues and profits in a decade. CEO Tim Cook partly blamed steep declines in revenue from China.

2020: In March, Apple closes all its bricks and mortar retail stores outside of China in response to coronavirus.