I have kept a couple of older pieces of Apple gear in my cupboard. Partly for nostalgic reasons and partly in the hope that one day they’ll be worth something. But one bright spark kept an original iPhone, purchased for USD$599, and recently sold it at auction for a mouth-watering USD$40,000.
Just as a reminder, the original iPhone’s specs were:
- 3.5-inch display
- 2.75G cellular (the 3G model came a year later, which is when it had a broader global release)
- 8GB of storage
- no App Store
- limited to iOS 3
Just a few weeks ago, a similar iPhone sold for USD$35,000.
This possibly tells us two things – I’m not sure which is true.
- There’s value in holding on to the first and last units of a product in its original packaging
- A fool and their money are soon parted
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.