SAN FRANCISCO (AFP).- An Apple-1, a rare model of the first computer produced by the now-iconic tech firm, fetched $375,000 in an auction this week, according to Boston-based RR Auction.

The computer was among 175 of those sold by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak from their production in a garage in Silicon Valley in the early days of Apple in 1976 and 1977.

The model originally went for $666.66 when it was sold by the Byte Shop computer store in Mountain View, California in the 1970s.

Jobs and Wozniak initially designed the Apple-1 as a bare circuit board to be sold as a kit and completed by electronics hobbyists, but Byte Shop owned Paul Terrell agreed to buy 50 if they were fully assembled and did not require soldering by the buyer.

According to RR, the computer sold this week was restored to original running condition in June and included the original Apple-1 board, a cassette interface, keyboard and other equipment.

The selling price was far from a record, however: another Apple-1 computer went for $905,000 in 2014.


© Agence France-Presse