10 Jul 2013

Original Apple computer sells for $US390,000

2:05 pm on 10 July 2013

One of the original Apple computers - an Apple 1 from 1976 - went on sale in an auction overnight and fetched nearly $US390,000.

The computer is one of the first 25 computer elements designed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak in their California garage.

It originally retailed for $666.66.

About 200 were made, but most have disappeared or been discarded. About 30 to 50 are believed to still be in existence.

The particular model that went under the hammer had been stored away in a cardboard box collecting dust by a retired school psychologist.

Technology website pocket-lint.com editor Chris Hall says the models fetch high prices.

He says the value lies in the models being part of the Apple story and the way Apple helped develop the technology available today.