Rare 1st generation, 4GB iPhone sells for over Rs 1.56 crore at auction

Steve Jobs during the first iPhone's launch in 2007. (Image: @rogerjameshamilton/Facebook)

A first-generation iPhone in impeccable condition has achieved a record at auction, fetching an astounding $190,372.80 (over Rs 1.56 crore) on Sunday night. This sale price is over 317 times the original retail value of $599 when the iPhone was first introduced back in 2007. Initially projected to sell for anywhere between $50,000 and $100,000, the final bid shattered all expectations.

The phone, a 4GB factory-sealed device, had hit the auction block in late June. Interestingly, this auction's success surpasses the previous record set in February, where an unopened first-generation 8GB iPhone was sold for $63,356.40. Before that, in October 2022, an 8GB original iPhone, also still factory-sealed, had been sold for $39,339.60.

The iPhone belonged to a former member of the original engineering team at Apple, present during the iPhone's launch. Mark Montero, the founder of LCG Auctions, which conducted the sale, expressed his astonishment in a press release on Monday.

He revealed, "Despite the extensive worldwide media exposure our previous sales received and the hundreds of contacts we've had with consumers who thought they had a factory-sealed original iPhone, this is the only 4GB factory-sealed version to surface."

Montero continued, "Based upon our recent record-setting sales and the fact that the 4GB model is probably 20-times rarer than the 8GB version, we are not surprised it established a new record price, but surpassing the $190,000 mark was quite surprising."

Back in 2007, the first iPhone came with either 4GB or 8GB of storage, a 3.5-inch touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and a web browser. As consumers overwhelmingly favoured the 8GB model, Apple discontinued the 4GB variant soon after, making it significantly rarer.

Over the years, Apple has made impressive strides in storage capacity, offering the current maximum of 1TB on their latest iPhones. The most expensive model today, the iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB of storage, starts at $1,599.