An original 2007 iPhone, still in its box and cellophane wrapping, is up for auction beginning today. The starting bid is set to $10,000, and LCG Auctions estimates that it will fetch between $50,000 and $100,000.
Apple sold around six million 2007 iPhones, but units in their original packaging are relatively rare. Even rarer are units like this one specced with 4GB of storage; at launch, the device was available with either 4GB or 8GB but the lower configuration was discontinued after a few months in favor of a new 16GB edition.
That rarity value explains the unusually high valuation. Last October an unopened original iPhone with 8GB of storage sold for a (still respectable) $39,339.60; a few months before that another sold for $35,414.
Whoever wins the auction would be wise to keep the device in its wrapping, because it will be well nigh unusable as an actual smartphone. Other than 4GB of storage (compared to a minimum of 128GB for the iPhone 14) and a 3.5-inch screen (compared to 6.1 inches on the iPhone 14) the original iPhone cannot even run iOS 4 and has no way to install third-party apps.
The auction begins on Friday, June 30 at 5 pm EST, and will end on July 16.
