It’s safe to say that most millennials and boomers can remember the absolute cultural reset that was the release of the original Apple iPhone, a mystical device that allowed you to watch YouTube on your cell phone and dial using a touchscreen.
Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images It was a historical and pivotal release for the future of what mobile devices would become capable of and owning a piece of that history has turned out to be more expensive than even the newest models of the iPhone.
An original, first generation, unopened iPhone from 2007 just sold in an auction for a jaw-dropping $39,339.60 — nearly $38,740.60 more than the most expensive version of the original release, which was what this specific model was.
Gizmodo pointed out that taking into account inflation, the same model would’ve sold today for around $860.
The brand new phone, which had never been activated and was noted to be in “pristine” condition, came in with 8 GB of storage and a 2-megapixel camera which at the time of its release — at the time unheard of on a cell phone.
“Collectors and investors would be hard-pressed to find a superior example,” LCG Auctions said of the high-grossing device. “Relevance and rarity comprise a winning formula for this red hot collectible.”
The iPhone was first released in June of 2007, just months after Apple founder Steve Jobs revealed the revolutionary device at a MacWorld conference in January of that year.
“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything and Apple has been – well, first of all, one’s very fortunate if you get to work on just one of these in your career. Apple has been very fortunate. It’s been able to introduce a few of these into the world,” Jobs said during his 2007 keynote speech where he revealed the iPhone. “What we want to do is make a leapfrog product that is way smarter than any mobile device has ever been and super-easy to use. This is what iPhone is. We’re going to reinvent the phone.”
Apps like Maps, World Clock, and Notes still exist on models today, but it’s hard to imagine a version of the device without Siri, an in-phone App Store, or even the ability to record video on the camera.
Today, Apple has created 34 total iterations of the iPhone spread across 14 series, the most recent of which is the iPhone 14 series that includes the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The most expensive of these is the iPhone 14 Pro Max, 1TB version which currently starts at $1,599.
Apple was down just shy of 3% in a one-year period as of Tuesday afternoon.
