A super-rare and extremely early Apple Computer motherboard has blasted past auctioneer estimates to achieve a hammer price of $2,750,000. During The Steve Jobs & the Computer Revolution: The Apple 50th Anniversary Auction sale, which ended Thursday, this Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ sold for 5.5X Boston’s Rare and Remarkable Auctions estimate, smashing the previous Apple-1 sale record of $945,000.
Apple didn’t start with a keynote.It started with a check. A prototype board. A bank statement.With just hours left, these pieces of Apple’s origin story are still climbing. The 30-Minute Rule begins tonight at 7 PM ET.@RRAuction#Apple50 #SteveJobs #AppleHistory pic.twitter.com/usQXGYX1r2January 29, 2026
We reported on the Apple-1 ‘Prototype Board #0’ in early January, so perhaps a Tom’s Hardware reader may have won the lot. In our previous report, we highlighted the significance of this computer industry artifact. Lot 6003 in Thursday’s sale was dubbed “The ‘Celebration’ Board, Representing the Earliest Known Fiberglass Apple-1 Prototype,” RRAuctions noted in the sale catalog.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak used this particular sample “to validate the Apple-1 design before entering into commercial production,” asserted the details provided by the auctioneer. Moreover, it was claimed to be the first corrected PCB layout readied ahead of the famous first Byte Shop production run. That means the famous 50 Apple-1 machines, sold via Paul Terrell’s Byte Shop, were based on this design.
Though ultimately selling for 5.5X the estimate of $500,000, the happy buyer won’t just get the fiberglass PCB motherboard in the top picture. They will also receive a vintage, period-correct KeyTronic keyboard (c. 1977), a vintage, period-correct power supply, a vintage Sony CRT TV, a replica Apple-1 Operation Manual, and a replica Apple-1 schematic, both signed in blue felt tip by Steve Wozniak. That sounds like more or less a full, working system, and thankfully, the buyer won’t have to add any expensive RAM or storage to their basket.
Apple’s first check and the Apple Computer registered Jaguar XJS V12 convertible
In our pre-auction news post, we also highlighted that Apple Computer Inc’s first check, and an Apple Computer registered Jaguar XJS V12 Convertible were also going under the hammer as part of The Steve Jobs & the Computer Revolution: The Apple 50th Anniversary Auction sale.
The flimsy piece of paper (the check) also went for well above estimates. It ended up hugely overshadowing its $500k estimate, with a hammer price of $2.41m. Unfortunately, for us nosey folks, RRAuctions says the Jaguar XJS V12 Convertible lot is closed, but no hammer price has been divulged. The sleek car’s estimate was $50,000+, even though it looks like it is in great condition, inside and out, and only had 29,000 miles on the clock.
Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
