Apple1 prototype - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 11:44:28 am
content: There's half of an Apple 1 prototype board for auction here:https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/345735106445006-steve-jobs-39-s-apple-1-computer-prototype/?cat=0Current bid is over $400k.

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 11:58:00 am
content: And a video here:https://youtu.be/jajuk4S_GZg

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 12:02:15 pm
content: From time to time such prototypes show up at astounding prices (I recall a couple of threads around here that talk about that).I never knew if one of these were actually sold for their prices, but surely the hype is enough to take it far out of reach for most people's wallets.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 12:25:03 pm
content: Well if things like thishttps://news.artnet.com/market/maurizio-cattelan-banana-art-basel-miami-beach-1722516sell for 120000 dollar then why not an old piece of history for so much money.Personally I find it idiotic but that is me

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 07:29:48 pm
content: Yeah, Apple I prototypes are commonly around $1 million dollars or so.Provided that they could prove authenticity, why not. I personally would certainly not buy that, but are they worth this price? In some way, absolutely, if you consider how seminal those were and their historical value.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 08:06:52 pm
content: I will be curious to see what happens to the value of things like this once everyone who is old enough to have been around in the early PC era has died off. I have some nostalgia for the early Apple stuff and still have a IIe, but I would not want a damaged Apple I board even if it was free.

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 09:06:55 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on August 03, 2022, 08:06:52 pmFord Model T vehicles produced from 1909 to 1927 have sold for as much $110,000 in the last five years, according to Classic.com. Over that period of time, Model Ts have sold for an average of $16,093. The lowest during that time sold for $3,300. Most people from 1909 have died by now.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 10:01:37 pm
content: QuoteSteve Job's?This is an insult to Woz's engineering talent.And why authenticity of the artefact was established with some "expert" 13 page report? They could just ask Woz.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 10:03:47 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on August 03, 2022, 10:01:37 pmYeah. I'd really be wary of anything like that unless it was certified by Woz himself.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 10:04:48 pm
content: QuoteBy all of the lead-free mafia accounts Woz should have been dead by now.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 10:54:21 pm
content: Quote from: TimFox on August 03, 2022, 09:06:55 pmIt would be interesting to see what $110k buys you vs what $16k does. While I recognize the historical significance of the Model T, I personally have no interest in owning one, much like the Apple I they are just too primitive. By the 1940s cars were refined enough to be pretty usable in modern times.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 10:56:15 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on August 03, 2022, 10:01:37 pmWoz was obviously the superior engineer, but I think without Jobs the Apple would have never been more than a footnote in the history of the PC. Woz probably would have sold a few dozen of them to other enthusiasts before getting bored and moving on to other projects. Jobs excelled at being a salesman.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2022, 11:52:44 pm
content: Quote from: woofy on August 03, 2022, 11:44:28 amUh the PC board is broken in two... missing Vregs and most of the IC's. Total garbage auction IMHO.P.S. the complete Apple I on eBay is stillasking $1,500,000and I think it's been up for a few years now. The guy will not insure shipping it.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2022, 05:58:14 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on August 03, 2022, 11:52:44 pmI don't blame him. Is anyone going to spend $1.5M on something and then have it shipped UPS? I would expect they'd either fly out and pick it up personally, or arrange for a specialized transport service that handles high value items. I have doubts that it will ever sell for that price but who knows.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2022, 07:12:24 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on August 04, 2022, 05:58:14 pmYeah, I don't get the point of selling that on eBay anyway. People willing to buy auction itemsthatexpensive will not buy them on eBay. There are much more dependable auction services for that kind of items, with all insurances required, qualified experts, appropriate shipping services, etc. You'd be a complete dumbass to buy that off eBay.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2022, 07:20:57 pm
content: There is fine art for sale on eBay, but with the way people scam nowadays I'd use a real auction house and pay their fees."Images of the prototype show a long crack down the right side of the circuit board and indications ofWozniak's 'three-handed' soldering technique evidenced"in the tight 'bubbles' formed at the soldered connections" according to RR Auction."What is this three-handed soldering? I use one hand for the iron, other holds the wire and any spare fingers hold the solder. I never get "bubbles" - just burnt fingersOldest IC datecode 7618 so around May '76 not sure when the prototype was shown to get the first 50pcs order.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2022, 08:22:11 pm
content: Provenance. Unless that PCB has a certificate of authenticity CoA witnessed by Woz or Apple - maybe echoed as a smart contract on the blockchain - it's just another busted PCB from the 1970s (plenty of these pictured on this forum). Without immutable provenance, I would value the incomplete artefact in the $1500-$2000 range. About the same as a fully functional first version CBM Pet or Pacman machine.A collector has no interest in what it is but, what it will be worth in 10, 20, 50 year's time? Especially if they are a private equity fund investor. The value is the history, the story, the importance, the provenance. And the only expert appraiser is the soldersucking man himself.Buyer beware.

author: oPossum
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2022, 02:12:58 am
content: Hmmm

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2022, 03:54:34 pm
content: Perfect match!

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2022, 04:49:58 pm
content: Beautiful picture by TubeTime.But clearly a fake, since it does not have the legendary orange capacitors.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2022, 04:54:51 pm
content: Quote from: oPossum on August 10, 2022, 02:12:58 amI have to ask, if that is the missing piece, did the parts stay on the board, or did they end up on that duck billed pcb? That shard would be worth $80K?

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2022, 05:40:34 pm
content: If that's a fake, its well beyond my photo-shopping abilities.Looks a good match to me.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 10, 2022, 07:08:55 pm
content: Quote from: woofy on August 10, 2022, 05:40:34 pmOf course it's fake. At least it is highly unlikely that Eric Schlaepfer (TubeTime) just happened to come across the broken-off piece on last week's computer swap market... But very nice Photoshop work indeed, and a strategically placed other PCB across the difficult-to-get-right area of the fracture.Edit: Eric's original post is here,https://twitter.com/TubeTimeUS/status/1556804778759684097

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2022, 08:41:51 am
content: Ah, ok then, I hadn't seen that twitter post (don't use twitter).Dam good photo editing though.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2022, 12:28:23 am
content: Blue Sprague 39D electrolytics having date code back to late 1974 in Apple1https://rlvintage.tech/5300uf.htmledit:Sprague Electronic Components Catalog 1980

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2022, 06:51:41 am
content: Sure, but apparently the prototype used a different type of capacitor. There are some old Polaroid photos floating around the internet which show the prototype with orange caps. The text of the auction linked above also stresses that fact. (Funny, since the fragment they sell obviously excludes any caps, whether blue or orange...)

author: Phil_G
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2022, 06:14:56 pm
content: The missing piece pic is a very well executed & timely prank, like Piltdown man... lets just enjoy it for what it is!

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2022, 08:05:30 pm
content: Auction ends next Thursday Aug. 18 19:30? EDTI wonder if that proto board even worked? The only time you bust a board in two is out of frustration that it doesn't work, it can't work.Or Motorola burned them with over 6800 price and availability.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2022, 08:16:24 pm
content: Quote from: Phil_G on August 13, 2022, 06:14:56 pmIt looks out of place on the bench. It would be more convincing if the bench had entourage applicable to the era.

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 19, 2022, 07:44:46 am
content: Sold for $541,757

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2022, 12:50:08 am
content: RR Auction webpage says"Sold For:$677,196(*Includes Buyers Premium)"

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2022, 09:15:38 am
content: 25% Buyers Premium, ouch!

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2022, 10:07:52 am
content: There's taking the p*ss and there's buyer's premium. BP is often PLUS local sales tax too.So how easy would it be to manufacture a deep fake Apple 1 PCB? And you don't even need the components, just a load of empty DIL sockets.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2022, 07:08:33 pm
content: Ahah, the thing is not even intact, it's badly broken. Some people definitely have too much money on their hands.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2022, 08:11:05 pm
content: Well, I was thinking if Wozniak sold his gonch - what would it be worth?

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 20, 2022, 08:17:23 pm
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on August 20, 2022, 07:08:33 pmYep. I wonder it they want to sell the NFT for the missing bit?

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2022, 01:58:23 am
content: I don't think the board worked - are there any Apple I's running the MC6800?