Now that Apple sells over hundreds of millions of iPhones a year, it’s easy to forget that it all began with two college dropouts in a garage with some trademark old Apple computers. Since 1976, Apple has seen its share of ups and downs, but the company’s nearly 50-year-long resume is packed with tech milestones.
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To the untrained eye, obsolete or antiquated products should be put in the bin rather than distributed for sale. The term vintage typically doesn’t come with as much of a resale value when applied to electronics as opposed to designer clothing. However, some vintage Apple products have fetched over $100,000 at auction.
Though not every used Apple device you have will get this much, the value of certain products collecting dust in your closet might be worth more than a pretty penny. From the very first Macintosh to the MacBook Pro or even iPhone 16, Apple is known just as much for high price tags as it is for innovation.
Here’s a look at the most significant products Apple has introduced over the years — what they cost then and what they could be worth today.
Compared to 1976’s Apple I, the Apple II was a revelation. While the first Apple lacked a monitor, separate keyboard or casing, the Apple II included the whole package, complete with the introduction of five-color on-screen graphics.
Adjusted for inflation, you could buy a used car for what the Apple II costs, but its price tag had brought the budding company $7.8 million in sales by 1978 — about $40 million in today’s money.
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This is when the world started calling Apple computers “Macs” and the company stopped not being a household name. While dropping more than six grand on a computer today is cringeworthy, the original Macintosh was considered the first relatively affordable computer with a graphical interface at the time.
Its specs included a whopping 128 KB of RAM, 400 KB of storage, a floppy disk drive and a nine-inch monochrome display. The original 128K prototype was auctioned for $150,075.
Developed while legendary Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was away from the company — and famously derided by him — the tablet-like touchscreen Newton paved the way for the success of the PDA and, later, the iPad.
This small, hand-held product didn’t catch on at the time, but it played a role in inspiring today’s “all-in-one” device design and even featured ahead-of-its-time handwriting recognition capabilities.
The introduction of the iMac in 1998 marked the first time Apple used its “i” branding. At the time, the “i” in “iMac” stood for “internet,” as the all-in-one desktop computer featured a built-in modem, which was uncommon when it launched.
The first model came in a blue-green hue, called “bondi blue and ice” by Apple, but it was later available in a rainbow of colors. It marked the first major Apple work by iconic designer Jony Ive. The iMac line looks a lot different — and less colorful — today, but it’s still kicking.
The Power Mac G4 Cube’s beautiful design couldn’t offset the high price tag, which, consequently, led to its marketplace struggles. By 2001, its entry-level price had been slashed to $1,299.
The cube-shaped brains of the box live today in the form of the Mac Mini series, however. Though the Mini doesn’t include a monitor, keyboard or speakers like the G4 Cube, it starts at a much more reasonable $599 and the used vintage model can sell for just under that.
From 2001 to 2011, Apple sold 300 million original iPods. Though the idea of a dedicated MP3 player seems outdated today, the at-the-time appeal of carrying 1,000 songs on the original, scroll-wheel-equipped model’s 5 GB hard drive cannot be overstated.
The iPod line eventually included a wide variety of models — from the Nano to the Shuffle — but Apple discontinued it in 2022. However, nostalgic collectors tend to scoop up the rare 1st Generation models if they have never been used or are in like-new condition.
Before you can sell a billion, you’ve got to start with one. The iPhone might not have been the first all-in-one handheld device, but its mainstream appeal and standard feature set established the baseline for the modern smartphone.
If your current device has Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth, a camera, a glass screen, an accelerometer and multi-touch, you probably can thank the iPhone. The vintage first edition can sell for thousands of dollars online to enthusiastic gearheads.
Caitlyn Moorhead, Andrew Lisa, Ruth Sarreal and Jennifer Taylor contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Most Valuable Vintage Apple Products — Could Yours Be Worth Thousands?
