An original iPhone from 2007, still in its box and cellophane wrapping, is up for auction starting today. The starting bid is set at $10,000 and LCG Auctions estimates it will fetch between $50,000 and $100,000.
Apple sold about six million iPhones in 2007, but units in their original packaging are relatively rare. Even rarer are units like this with 4GB of storage; at launch, the device was available with either 4GB or 8GB, but the lower configuration was dropped after a few months in favor of a new 16GB edition.
This scarcity value explains the unusually high valuation. Last October, an original unopened iPhone with 8GB of storage sold for a (still respectable) $39,339.60; a few months prior, another sold for $35,414.
Whoever wins the auction would be well advised to keep the device in its packaging, as it will be practically unusable as a real smartphone. Other than 4GB of storage (compared to a minimum of 128GB on the iPhone 14) and a 3.5-inch display (compared to 6.1-inch on the iPhone 14), the stock iPhone can’t even running iOS 4 and has no way to install a third party. apps.
The auction begins Friday, June 30 at 5 p.m. EST and ends July 16.
