Apple Macintosh prototype with 5.25″ disk drive up for auction – only two of them exist

According to legend, Steve Jobs ordered the destruction of the first prototypes of Apple Macintosh computers with 5.25″ disk drives that had too many read errors. But two copies were saved and one of them will soon be auctioned. In 2019, the M0001 prototype was already sold for $150,075, which set a record at that time for Apple auction equipment. Now the price for it can soar tenfold.

Image source: Bonhams

The auction will take place on October 23, 2024. They are organized by the Bonhams auction house under the theme “History of Science and Technology”. Production Apple Macintosh computers, which celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, are equipped with 3.25” disk drives and are noticeably different from the first prototypes.

By the way, only two surviving prototypes with a 5.25” drive are known. A copy prepared for auction was found by an Apple contractor who developed the MacWrite text editor. It was preserved and first shown in public on January 25, 2014, for the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh. Then Steve Wozniak himself turned it on and tested it. Thus, the auction winner will receive a completely working device.

Antique Apple equipment always has a high price at auction. So, earlier this year, the Apple 1 computer was sold for $945,000, and the Apple Lisa 1 went for $882,000 (44 times higher than the minimum estimate). It turns out that the current prototype may become the third most expensive in this short series of veterans. However, ordinary old Apple computers have never been sold for more than $100 thousand. It’s another matter if they were used by someone from the company’s management. For example, Steve Jobs’ Macintosh SE, which he used at Next, was auctioned in 2022 for $126,375. The name of a famous user makes the item more expensive.