Steve Jobs’s Apple-1 Computer prototype is on the auction block

A rare piece of history from Apple Inc.’s storied early days in Silicon Valley will go to the highest bidder. Steve Jobs’s Apple-1 Computer prototype is being auctioned by Boston-based RR Auction, with current bids at $278,005. Bidding ends on Aug. 18. RR Auction sold the Apple-1 computer in September 2018 for $375,000.

The prototype, which was considered “lost” until recently, is what the Apple co-founder used to demonstrate the Apple-1 to personal computer store owner Paul Terrell in 1976. According to the item description on RR Auction’s website, Jobs and co-founder Steve Wozniak originally envisioned the Apple-1 computer as part of a $40 do-it-yourself kit. Terrell convinced the entrepreneurs to turn the product into a pre-assembled personal computer for $666.66 and gave them their first big order.