An original Apple-1 computer that helped launch Apple’s personal-computing story is heading back to auction, and collectors could pay as much as $800,000 for it.
The machine, known as the “Hatfield” Apple-1, is expected to sell for between $500,000 and $800,000 when Bonhams offers it in New York this fall. It is particularly valuable because it remains operational and comes with two remarkable pieces of Apple history: Steve Wozniak’s signature and a letter signed by Steve Jobs.
The computer has already demonstrated its appeal to collectors. It sold for $671,400 at auction in 2013 after being restored to working condition.
What makes the Hatfield Apple-1 so rare?
The Apple-1 was Apple’s first computer, designed by Steve Wozniak and introduced in 1976.
About 200 Apple-1 computers were produced that year, and fewer than 75 are believed to survive today. An even smaller number remain in working condition, making operational examples particularly desirable among collectors.
The Hatfield machine is listed as No. 48 in the Apple-1 Registry. Its survival is significant not simply because of its age, but because it is a physical link to Apple’s earliest days, long before the company became one of the world’s biggest technology companies.
Who originally owned the Apple-1?
The computer was purchased in 1976 by Fred Hatfield, a computer enthusiast who worked for Computer Data Systems.
Unlike a celebrity-owned collectible, its provenance is compelling because Hatfield actually used the machine during Apple’s formative years. He later contacted Steve Jobs after becoming frustrated with the Apple-1’s limited software and capabilities.
That complaint produced an extraordinary piece of correspondence that is now part of the auction lot.
What did Steve Jobs offer Fred Hatfield?
Jobs offered Hatfield an opportunity to trade in his Apple-1 for an Apple II board.
The offer was not simply a routine customer-service response. A typed letter signed by Jobs and dated from Apple’s early years is included with the computer.
Hatfield ultimately turned down the offer because the proposed exchange required him to pay an additional $400. He kept the Apple-1 instead.
That decision became surprisingly valuable decades later.
How did the Apple-1 become a $671,400 computer?
Hatfield eventually sold the Apple-1 in 2013 for $40,000. At the time, the machine was not working.
The buyer restored it, traveled to California to have Wozniak sign the motherboard, and subsequently consigned it to Auction Team Breker in Germany.
It sold there for $671,400, including fees and taxes, setting a record for an Apple-1 at the time.
The machine is now returning to the market more than a decade later, with Bonhams placing an estimate of $500,000 to $800,000 on it.
Why does an Apple-1 command such a huge price?
The technology itself is not what makes the machine worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
By modern standards, the Apple-1 was extremely limited. It was essentially a bare circuit board that required users to supply additional components such as a keyboard, monitor and power-related equipment.
Its value today comes from scarcity, provenance and historical significance.
Collectors are paying for an artifact from the moment when Wozniak’s engineering and Jobs’ business instincts were beginning to form the foundation of Apple. The fact that this particular machine carries Wozniak’s signature and is accompanied by a signed Jobs letter makes its history unusually well documented.
How much did the Apple-1 originally cost?
The Apple-1 was initially sold for $666.66.
That price was a far cry from the hundreds of thousands of dollars that vintage examples can command today. The computer was sold through The Byte Shop in California, which purchased fully assembled units from Apple.
Its relatively modest original price makes the modern valuations even more striking. The Hatfield computer’s previous $671,400 auction result represented an extraordinary increase in value over its original retail era.
When will the Hatfield Apple-1 be auctioned?
Bonhams has scheduled the sale for October 2026.
The auction will run from October 4 through October 14, with the final sale taking place in New York.
Before the auction closes, Bonhams is taking the computer on a public viewing tour so technology enthusiasts and potential bidders can see it in person.
Where can people see the Apple-1 before the auction?
The Hatfield Apple-1 is scheduled to appear in several US cities ahead of the sale.
It will be displayed in Los Angeles from September 9 to 11, Boston from September 21 to 23, San Francisco from September 30 to October 1 and New York during the October auction.
For a machine that helped mark the beginning of the personal-computer era, the tour offers a rare chance to see an original Apple-1 outside a private collection.
Could it break its previous auction record?
It is possible.
Bonhams’ $800,000 upper estimate is substantially higher than the Hatfield Apple-1’s $671,400 result in 2013. The machine is still operational, retains its connection to its original owner and carries signatures from both of Apple’s co-founders, factors that could strengthen its appeal.
However, an auction estimate is not a guaranteed sale price. The eventual result will depend on competition among bidders, the condition of the machine and its documentation when the lot comes under the hammer.
For collectors of computing history, though, the opportunity is difficult to replicate: this is not merely an old computer. It is an artifact from Apple’s earliest chapter, complete with a paper trail connecting it directly to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
