Apple's 4GB Phone Flopped. One Just Sold for $190K

Phone from 2007 fetches a record price at auction
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 17, 2023 11:04 AM CDT
Apple's 4GB Phone Flopped. One Just Sold for $190K
The pricey old phone.   (LCG Auctions)

Earlier this year, an original iPhone—still sealed—sold for a world-record $63,000. Consider the record broken and then some. Another original iPhone just sold for more than $190,000 at the US auction house LCG Auctions, reports the BBC. This one had a little extra cache: It was a 4GB phone, which Apple made for only a few months in 2007 before discontinuing, per 9 to 5 Mac. The phone retailed for $499. The reason Apple stopped making it? Almost everybody bought the 8GB model, which was only $100 more. (That was the type of phone auctioned earlier this year.)

The 4GB phone smashed expectations of bringing in $100,000 during the auction that ended Sunday, notes BGR.com. "The original 4GB model is considered a 'Holy Grail' amongst iPhone collectors," the auction house explained, citing the relatively few models made. What's more, this particular phone belonged to a member of the original Apple engineering team, though it was still factory-sealed. (More iPhone stories.)

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