There are always complaints about iPhones. If it’s not the battery life, it’s the queues to get the latest generation on the first day. Then there’s the price. But paying $92,824 for a first generation one from 2007 seems somewhat steep – even if it is still in the original packaging and untouched by anyone since leaving the factory. But that’s how much an iPhone 1 fetched at auction in the US recently.
The device’s original owner received it as a gift the year iPhone was launched – two years before Angry Birds came on the scene – and didn’t even bother to unbox it, which was a genius move as it ended up selling for US$63,356.40, more than 105 times its original retail price.
In 2019 a value of US$5000 was placed on it. By 2022 that had risen to US$39,339.60.
The final bidding war started on February 2 this year, at US$2500. By Feb 4 it had risen to US$10,000. From there it kept climbing until the final private bidder landed the 8GB antique, which originally retailed for US$599.
The main camera equipment on the rear was made up of a sole 2MP sensor and the resolution on the 3.5″ LCD display was 340 x 480. These days, the main camera on the iPhone 14 Pro is 48MP, and the 6.7″ display has a 1290 x 2796 resolution.
