One thing we can certainly say about the modern iPhone is that it doesn't come cheap. A base model of the flagship iPhone 14 Pro Max will set you back £1,199 / $1,099 / AU$1,899 – opt for a top spec model and you're looking at an eye-watering £1,749 / $1,599 / AU$2,769!
But if you thought modern examples were pricey, you'll never believe what vintage examples are going for. Recently, there's been a trend for factory-sealed examples of the original iPhone selling at auction for incredible sums of money. Back in August last year, one fetched a cool $35,000.
But even that is miniscule in comparison to the latest instance, with the hammer finally falling at over $63,000. The auction started at $2,500, and attracted 27 bids from interested parties. The listing billed the unit as a "blue-chip asset" owing to its growing popularity among investors and collectors.
According to Business Insider, the seller was gifted the device back in 2007 in celebration of a new job. But because the original device was only available on AT&T in the USA, the device was confined to a shelf, unused and unopened.
So, what does $63,000 buy you in the vintage smartphone market? Not as much as you'd hope, I'd wager. The handset features a 3.5-inch LCD display, with 163ppi – arguably most comparable to the Apple Watch Ultra screen size these days. The rear camera was a whopping 2MP unit, and featured geotagging.
Inside, an underclocked Samsung chip powered things, and a 1,400mAh battery was enough to keep things powered. Oh, and of course it also has the gone-but-never-forgotten headphone jack.
It's certainly the item of the moment for vintage tech collectors, though only time will tell whether the current prices are justified given the scarcity of such examples, or part of a bubble of interest and activity. For now though, it's time to check that junk drawer, just in case...
