LCG Auctions recently listed an unopened first-generation iPhone from 2007 that is hitting the auction block this coming Thursday. It is being sold at an estimated value of $50,000.
Originally on sale for $599, the first iPhone offered early Apple adopters a 3.5-inch screen with a 2-megapixel camera, 4 GB and 8 GB storage options, internet capabilities and iTunes. It had no app store, ran on a 2G network and was exclusive to AT&T’s network.
Cosmetic tattoo artist Karen Green was gifted the 8 GB version and never broke the seal, according to her appearance on the daytime television program “The Doctor & The Diva” in 2019. An appraiser on the show valued the phone at $5,000 at the time.
In the meantime, another unopened first-generation iPhone like Green’s was auctioned off for over $39,000 in a listing by LCG Auctions which closed in October. LCG Auctions also lists Green’s phone, with bidding opening at $2,500.
Green and LCG Auctions did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The iPhone changed how billions of people worldwide communicate, make payments, do their jobs, take photos and even wake up in the morning. It killed dozens of industries (camcorders, MP3 players, flip phones) and gave life to many more.
Speaking at Apple’s annual Macworld expo in 2007, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs began his presentation by saying: “We’re going to make some history together today.” Jobs called the new smartphone a “revolutionary mobile phone” that would feature an iPod, a phone and what he called an “Internet communicator.”
“It’s bad out there today,” said Jobs of mobile Web browsers. “It’s a real revolution to bring web browsing to a phone.”
Apple enthusiasts will have until February 19 to bid on what has now become a tech relic.