A rare Apple-1 prototype, particularly its history, is being questioned as it enters the auction block.
The specimen is believed to be an original Apple-1 computer that’s owned by late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. However, a report regarding the board’s history casts doubt about the claims. The auction says that the item was handed to an anonymous owner during the 90s, with visible cracks and missing components.
It’s also believed that the prototype was used as a demo to The Byte Shop owner Paul Terrell. Furthermore, the details say that Wozniak himself hand-soldered the board.
Several key witnesses appeared to question the information put forward by the auction. Wozniak says that the board was ‘one of the first’, but then mentions that it wasn’t the specimen they hand-soldered. In the same vein, Paul Terrell said that the board was not a prototype but rather a production model in the ‘first delivery’ of computers.
RR Auction argues that the listing was ‘properly described’ and that the specimen was indeed a prototype.