Someone Just Traded in Their Old iPhone—and Made Nearly $40,000 on the First-Generation Device at Auction - artnet News

Fifteen years aft the first-ever iPhone deed stores for $499, a factory-sealed, first-generation instrumentality conscionable sold done LCG Auctions for $39,339—nearly 80 times its archetypal price.

A batch has changed since Steve Jobs introduced the archetypal iPhone successful 2007 astatine MacWorld San Francisco. It deed stores connected June 29, for a retail terms that amounts to astir $700 today. An aboriginal reappraisal from CNET praised cosmetic features similar its solid surface and high-fidelity sound, portion questioning applicable facets similar telephone prime and bluetooth connections.

“We had nary thought of the interaction it would have,” LCG Auctions laminitis Mark Montero said successful a statement. “It was expensive, $599 for an eight-gigabyte model, and due to the fact that of the precocious price, virtually each were opened and used—as was intended,” helium said. “To observe an archetypal archetypal merchandise exemplary from 2007 inactive marque caller with its mill seal intact is genuinely remarkable.” It besides has archetypal labels and is escaped of stickers.

The iPhone’s archetypal specs had a three-and-a-half-inch screen, a two-megapixel camera, and utilized a Safari web browser. It was disposable with either 4 oregon 8 gigabytes of storage—LCG’s illustration has eight. By comparison, the latest iPhone 14 Pro starts astatine 128 gigs, with a minimum six-inch screen, a 12-megapixel camera, and immoderate browser you tin find successful the app store.

Bidding for this spot of tech past opened connected September 30, starting astatine $2,500. It languished astatine that terms for a while, until it broke past $10,000 with the 16th bid connected October 14. In a substance of 2 hours connected the last day, its terms climbed from $11,000 to $32,000.

Both the purchaser and seller stay anonymous. If you’re successful the marketplace for a caller device, the iPhone 14 Pro starts astatine $999.

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