Apple I computer sells for £133,250 at auction

LONDON, UK: One of the first computers assembled by Apple in 1976, was sold for 133,250 pounds (about USD 210,000), at an auction in London on Tuesday.

The Apple I, one of only 200 such models ever made, which came with its original packaging and a signed sales letter from Steve Jobs, one of Apple Computer's co-founders and the current CEO of Apple Inc, was sold at Christie's auction house in central London.

When the computer was put in an auction, it was expected to fetch 150,000 pounds.

Apple's founder Steve Jobs sold the first generation computer Apple-1 from his parents' garage. The Apple-I, the forerunners of the iPad, iPhone and other latest gadgets, first went on sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66. It was discontinued in 1977.

The sale price of the Apple I, with a processor thousands of times slower than an iPad, proved the power of the company's brand even in relation to products more than 30 years old, said a Guardian report.

When the Apple I was launched in 1976, it was the only personal computer to come with a fully assembled motherboard, making it ready to use straight from the box provided the user supplied a case, keyboard, power supply and display, the report added.