First-gen iPhone sold for more than £50,000 at online auction, more than 100 times its original cost

If you still have a mint condition in-box first generation iPhone, you may want to hold on to it as the 2007 ‘first edition’ device has sold for more than $63,000 (£50,000) at an online auction in America. The device, which had never been opened, was sold for more than 100 times its original cost by auctioneer LCG Auctions.

Apple released the first generation iPhone in 2007 at a price of £457, revolutionising the smartphone market with its innovative design and user interface. It had a 3.5-inch touchscreen display, a 2-megapixel camera, and could connect to Wi-Fi and EDGE cellular networks to access the internet.

According to the auctioneer’s website, the bids for the phone began online earlier this month at $2,500 (£2,064). In total there were 27 bids on the phone. Mark Montero, founder of LCG Auctions, told CNN that 10 buyers vied for the iPhone and the winner was “an individual from the US”.

Karen Green, a tattoo artist, had received the phone as a gift and had never broken the seal. An appraiser valued the phone at $5,000 (£4,100) while appearing on the US daytime television show "The Doctor & The Diva" in 2019.

Another unopened first-generation iPhone sold for more than $39,000 (£32,200) in an LCG Auctions listing in October last year.

Following its debut, the iPhone changed the way countless people around the world used their phones for communication, taking photos or surfing the web. It also brought the end to many other products such as camcorders, MP3 players and flip phones.

Its release also marked a significant turning point in the evolution of mobile technology and had a significant effect on the market, resulting in the widespread use of smartphones as we know them today.

Speaking at Apple’s annual Macworld expo in 2007, then-Apple boss Steve Jobs opened his presentation with: “We’re going to make some history together today.” Jobs called the new smartphone a “revolutionary mobile phone” that will feature an iPod, phone and what he called an “Internet communicator”.