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Another rare and original 4GB iPhone is on auction. Auction house RR Auction called the item “the ‘holy grail’ of all modern Apple items.” Nonetheless, after the successful sale of an earlier similar unit in July for $190,372.80, the new item might snatch avid iPhone collectors’ attention.
“Original, sealed Apple products have seen a dramatic increase in interest from collectors in recent years, with iPhones regularly achieving new record prices,” RR Auction wrote on its auction page. “Although we have offered other original 8GB iPhones, this is the first 4GB model we have encountered. It is considered the ‘holy grail’ of all modern Apple items—a similar example attracted worldwide media attention when it sold for over $190,000 at another auction in July.”
The original iPhone that is still sealed originated from the earliest production of Apple in 2007. What sets it apart from previous auctions of early iPhones is its rare nature as a 4GB model. To recall, the launch of the original iPhones started with 4GB and 8GB models. However, the company saw that its customers favored the latter over the former, causing it to halt the production of the said version with lower storage. With this, the 4GB model was only manufactured for a few months, making it rare compared to its 8GB counterpart.
In June, the same item was offered by LCG Auctions, which set a high estimate of $50,000 to $100,000. Describing it as “probably 20 times rarer than the 8GB version,” the company reported it used to be owned by a person who was a part of Apple’s original engineering team when the models were introduced. And with a letter of provenance, the sealed iPhone sold for over $190,000 a month later.
With an estimated value of $20,000+, today’s auction unit is far more modest than the one mentioned above. Nonetheless, it is still expected to gain attraction among collectors of rare iPhone models, especially after the success of a similar item in July.
At the time of this writing, the item has a bid of $17,717. The live pre-bidding will close on Friday, September 22, while the live auction will begin on Saturday at 1:00 PM EST in Boston, MA.
