First-generation Apple iPhone sells for more than £50,000 at auction

Don’t expect your smartphone to be eligible for a similar payday, however
LCG Auctions described the phone as a ‘highly desirable, factory-sealed first-generation original Apple iPhone from 2007
PA Wire
Alan Martin21 February 2023

As a rule, the value of your smartphone goes in only one direction. A phone you spend the best part of a grand on today will almost certainly be worth a fraction of that in only a few months’ time.

But there are exceptions, as proved by a first-generation iPhone that sold for more than £50,000 at auction across the Atlantic.

Auctioned by LCG Auctions over 17 days, the lot attracted 28 bids in total, with the phone finally selling for $63,356.40 (~£56,250) on Sunday. This was a 10,477 per cent markup on — or more than 100 times — its original $599 RRP.

LCG Auctions described it as a “highly desirable, factory-sealed first-generation original Apple iPhone from 2007”.

If you’re wondering if your old iPhone might be eligible for a similar payday, it probably wouldn’t. Karen Green, the seller of the original iPhone, hadn’t unsealed the Apple packaging, let alone touched the handset.

That may sound like a long-term plan, but Green actually owes her sudden windfall to Apple’s original awkwardness. The phone was a gift from friends to celebrate a new job. But, at the time, Apple had an exclusivity deal with the AT&T network, similar to the one the company struck with O2 in the UK. As Green was tied to a Verizon contract, the phone was tucked away in a cupboard and forgotten about.

Green, who is based in New Jersey, intends to invest the returns in her cosmetic tattoo business. “If I could hold off on the phone for like another 10 years, I probably would," she told Insider. "The only reason why I am selling that phone is because I need to support this business."

While clearly valuable for collectors when still sealed, the original iPhone would prove underwhelming should the mystery buyer unbox it and try to use it for its original intended purpose.

For starters, in the US the 2G connectivity wouldn’t work any more. This would leave the new owner having to fill the 8GB of storage with photos instead. But while said photos would look okay on the tiny 3.5-inch 320 x 480 screen, the limitations of the 2-megapixel camera would become obvious when exported to something with a higher resolution.

An important piece of history then, but a far cry from the best phones you can buy in 2023.

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