You won’t believe how much someone just paid for a first-gen iPhone

You won’t believe how much someone just paid for a first-gen iPhone

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A historic price for a historic device
Photo: LCG Auctions

Anyone who still has a 2007 iPhone in the back of a drawer is surely excited to hear one just sold at auction for $39,340. But this one is still factory sealed in the box, not beat up after years of use.

The company that handled the auction called this a record price for a first-edition iPhone.

First-gen iPhone sells for record price

It’s a historic device. Before the original iPhone, smartphones were a niche product. The launch of Apple’s 2007 model transformed up the market, and had millions of people around the world dumping their RAZRs and Nokias to buy iPhone instead.

People today might balk at using one though, with its 3.5-inch display, 2 MP rear camera, no front cam and 4/8/16GB of storage.

Still, the first-gen iPhone is a milestone in technology history. And one collectors were willing to pay big bucks for in an action that wrapped up Sunday night. LCG Auctions predicted the price would be at least $30,000 and it more than met that goal.

“We expected the bidding for this item to be fervent and it did not disappoint as a handful of avid and sophisticated collectors drove the price from just over $10,000 on Sunday afternoon to this record-setting amount by Sunday night,” said Mark Montero, Founder of LCG Auctions, the company that handled the iPhone action. “We congratulate the winners, our consignors and all of the bidders for making this one of the most active auctions in our history.”

Don’t think the one you have gathering dust in a drawer is going to sell for anywhere close, though. For reference, an open-box first-gen iPhone in very good condition is currently auctioning for $330. Broken units go for about $30.

Of course, what sets the ~$40,000 version apart from other iPhone 1 units is that it’s still sealed in the original box. The auction house’s description of the item says it is “virtually flawless along the surface and edges, the factory seal is clean with correct seam details and tightness.  Labels on the reverse are correctly pristine beneath the seal.”

LCG Auctions did not explain why a handset that cost at least $599 ($857 in 2022 dollars) was never opened and used.