Original Apple computer hand-built by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sells for US$400,000

The functioning ‘Chaffey College’ Apple-1 is one of only 200 made by the company’s founders at the start of their journey from start-up to tech giant

The unit is among a handful of these first models encased in koa wood, which is native to Hawaii

2-MIN READ2-MIN

This functioning Apple-1 is the great-great-grandfather of today's sleek chrome-and-glass MacBooks. Photo: John Moran Auctioneers via AFP

Published: 8:07am, 10 Nov 2021Updated: 10:17pm, 10 Nov 2021

An original Apple computer, hand-built by company founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak 45 years ago, sold for US$400,000 at auction in the United States on Tuesday.

The functioning Apple-1, the great-great-grandfather of today’s sleek chrome-and-glass MacBooks, had been expected to fetch up to US$600,000 when it went under the hammer in California.

The so-called “Chaffey College” Apple-1 is one of only 200 made by Jobs and Wozniak at the very start of the company’s odyssey from garage start-up to megalith worth US$2 trillion.

What makes it even rarer is the fact the computer is encased in koa wood – a richly patinated wood native to Hawaii. Only a handful of the original 200 were made in this way.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs stands beneath a photograph of him and Apple-co founder Steve Wozniak from the early days of Apple during an event in San Francisco in January 2010. Photo: Reuters

Jobs and Wozniak mostly sold Apple-1s as component parts. One computer shop that took a delivery of around 50 units decided to encase some of them in wood, the auction house said.