Steve Wozniak-signed Apple-1 motherboard could fetch $800,000 at auction

Vintage computing history A fully working Apple-1 motherboard autographed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is expected to fetch up to $800,000 at an auction in New York City later this year. The Apple-1 was launched in 1976, and only around 75 original models are known to be in existence today, with just six of them verified to be still in working condition.

The motherboard will be auctioned online by Bonhams’ New York as part of its History of Science, Technology & Computing sale between October 4 and 14. It carries an estimated price tag of $500,000 to $800,000, but experts believe it could attract much higher bids, given its status as an important piece of personal computing history.

According to the Bonhams listing, the Apple-1 motherboard is labeled “Apple Computer 1 / Palo Alto. Ca. Copyright 1976,” with an “NTI” stamp underneath, indicating that it’s from the second batch. The motherboard houses a MOS Technology MCS 6502 / 2977 microprocessor, 8KB of RAM, and 3 original Sprague capacitors.

The motherboard also comes with a number of ports and sockets, offering a wide array of connectivity options used during the 1970s. They include a keyboard interface and connector, an expansion connector, a cassette board connector, and an original Apple cassette interface board labeled “Apple 1 Cassette Interface Copyright 1976.”

The motherboard is accompanied by a wide range of documentation, including an original Apple-1 operation manual, original preliminary Apple BASIC user manual with a green cover sheet bearing Apple’s original Newton logo, an original Apple-1 Cassette Interface manual, and an original typed invitation to join the “Apple-1 Owners Club.”

Alongside the motherboard and the manuals, the lot includes a typed letter signed by Steve Jobs in his capacity as the vice president of Apple Computers. Dated January 18, 1978, the letter is addressed to the original buyer, Fred Hatfield, who worked at Computer Data Systems in Columbus, Ohio, authorizing a trade-in toward an Apple II 4k board for $400.

Several other hardware components and peripherals are also part of the same auction lot. They include a 1977 Koyo TMC-9M monitor, a custom power supply, a Panasonic RQ-2102 Portable Cassette Recorder, and two ASCII keyboards – an original model from Apple and another from an unidentified brand.

Interestingly, this is not the first time this particular Apple-1 has gone under the hammer. In May 2013, the device sold for €516,461 (around $671,000 at prevailing exchange rates) at an auction in Cologne, Germany. It was originally purchased in 1976 by Hatfield for around $700.