A first-generation iPhone sold at auction for a record-breaking $63,356, the highest-ever sale for an original iPhone.
Still sealed from the factory, the iPhone sold Sunday night at LCG Auctions (opens in new tab) for a whopping $52,797, with an additional 20% buyer’s premium, bringing the total sale to over $60,000.
The 8GB smartphone owned by Karen Green, a cosmetic tattoo artist, was a gift she received in 2007 to congratulate her on her new job. The iPhone, with a 3.5-inch display and a 2-megapixel camera, was the first of its kind to retail for $599 – a far cry from today’s best iPhone with its 6.7-inch display and a 48-megapixel camera.
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Originally released exclusively by AT&T, the iPhone didn’t work with any other carrier at launch. Green, not wanting to lose her phone lines at Verizon, decided to keep the first-generation iPhone sealed. 16 years later and their decision to stay with Verizon has borne some incredible fruit.
The price of original iPhones has risen sharply in recent years, with prices reaching as much as $39,000 for a first-generation sealed iPhone last year.
When Green heard about the rising prices for sealed original iPhones, she couldn’t help but check out the old device on her shelf. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I think I have the original,’” she said Business Insider.
The staggering total for the boxed original iPhone is no surprise given Apple’s meteoric rise over the past two decades. If you bought $1,000 worth of AAPL stock on January 9, 2007, the date of the iPhone unveiling, those same shares would be worth $53,000 today.
Whether you bought a sealed smartphone and thought it was the future, or thought Apple would make modern history by investing in the company, let’s just say you’d be sitting on a pretty penny today.
Source: www.imore.com
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