If you think the iPhone 14 Pro is expensive, you wouldn't believe what an original iPhone (yep, the one that launched in 2007) sold for just yesterday.
LCG Auctions had a factory-sealed original iPhone up for grabs this past weekend, and when the bidding closed, the tech relic sold for a cool $39,340.
The auction was active right up until the bidding deadline as a "handful of avid and sophisticated collectors drove the price from just over $10,000 on Sunday afternoon to this record-setting amount by Sunday night," said Mark Montero, Founder of LCG Auctions in a press release.
While we've seen auctions of other old Apple products, a factory-sealed original iPhone isn't something that comes up very often. No word on whether the new owner plans on opening it or not, but they have a piece of history now.
The original iPhone was a game charger
When the phone launched in 2007, it cost $499 for the 4GB version and $599 for the 8GB model, but the cultural impact really made the OG iPhone legacy what it is today.
Undisputedly, it changed the smartphone landscape and quickly became Apple's most popular product. That paved the way for Apple to become what it is today and for the iPhone to be a staple in the cultural zeitgeist. Heck, some people still connect the iPhone launch and the ultimate demise of Blackberry, which ruled the smartphone world back in the oughts.
Regardless of your opinions of current-day Apple, there's no doubt that the first iPhone has solidified its place in time and history as one of the most important devices to ever be put on the market.
If this iPhone ever ends up in another auction, maybe we will see it fetch even more money, perhaps even reach the $45,000 mark.
