Have an unopened first-gen iPhone? It could fetch up to $67,000
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The first iPhone offered early Apple adopters a 3.5-inch screen with a two-megapixel camera.
PHOTO: APPLE
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Trading in your old phone typically gets you a fraction of its original value, but one woman’s 16-year-old first-generation iPhone is expected to be auctioned off for US$50,000 (S$67,000).
Cosmetic tattoo artist Karen Green was gifted the 8GB version of the phone when it was released in 2007 and never opened the box, according to US news outlets CNN and CBS.
“In 2007, I got a new job and my friends bought me the latest, newest first-generation iPhone,” Ms Green said, adding that “it had all these neat things on there to do a new job, like a calendar.”
She said she didn’t open the box because she had just got a new phone.
“I didn’t want to get rid of my phone, and I figured, it’s an iPhone, so it will never go out of date,” said Ms Green.
Apple now sells the iPhone 14,
Originally on sale for US$599 (S$800), the first iPhone offered early Apple adopters a 3.5-inch screen with a 2-megapixel camera, plus 4GB and 8GB storage options, Internet capabilities and iTunes.
Apple’s App store did not exist and the phone ran on a 2G network and was sold exclusively to customers of US telco AT&T.
Bidding on Ms Green’s phone begins at US$2,500 and will last until Feb 19.
The iPhone changed the way billions of people around the world communicate, make payments, do their jobs, take photos and even how they wake up in the morning, CNN said.
The phone has since rendered many devices, such as camcorders, MP3 players and flip phones, obsolete and gave life to other new industries.
This is not the first time Apple devices or first-generation iPhones like Ms Green’s have fetched eye-watering prices.
In October last year, an unopened first-generation iPhone fetched US$39,000 at an auction.
LCG Auctions, who is auctioning off Ms Green’s phone and auctioned off the one in October, told CBS: “There’s little doubt that interest in culturally relevant collectibles is rapidly increasing, and despite the impressive sales numbers, many believe the space is still in its infancy.”
Apple has a strong following of loyal fans — some of whom want to own a piece of Apple history. Last year, an Apple-1 Computer prototype from the mid-1970s sold at auction for more than US$677,000.
Even non-tech Apple related memorabilia are up for grabs - Steve Jobs’ worn Birkenstock sandals sold at auction for US$218,750 in December.
