Unopened First-Gen iPhone, Released in 2007, Sold for Over S$84,000

Last Updated on 2023-05-14 , 1:15 pm

Apple is really going back to its roots.

The latest models of the iPhone, starting from the 12, have sleek, flat edges reminiscent of the earlier models.

Sooner or later, we might be going back to having buttons.

However, Apple doesn’t have to modify the designs of its future models much, as the first-ever iPhone is back in demand.

8GB iPhone Sold For Over S$84,000

According to USA Today, the starting bid for the iPhone on 2 February, which was auctioned off through LCG Auctions, was US$2,500 (SG$ 3,300).

Less than three weeks later, on 19 February, the 8GB iPhone was auctioned off for a whopping US $63,356.40, approximately SG$85,000.

This exceeded the expected selling price of US$50,000 (SG$ 65,000) by quite a sizable amount.

An Unexpected Price

According to Business Insider, the original owner of the phone, Karen Green, had left the phone unopened for more than 15 years.

Gifted by her friends after being appointed to a management role at PetSmart, Green decided not to use that phone as, back then, iPhones could only use AT&T as a provider. She already had three phone lines with Verizon.

About 12 years later, in 2019, Green appeared on the TV show “Doctor & The Diva” to have viewers estimate the value of her iPhone. It was expected to go for US$5,000 (SG$ 6,700), a far cry from what it was auctioned off for.

After a few years of debating whether or not to sell the phone, she discovered an unused first-generation iPhone like hers was sold for US$40,000 (SG$ 53,600).

She decided to sell off the iPhone for good. True enough, things worked out in her favour.

The Rise of the iPhone

First introduced by Steve Jobs in early 2007 at MacWorld, the first-generation iPhone had features ahead of its time, notably a Safari web browser and a 2-megapixel camera.

The original iPhone only came in 4GB and 8GB storage. It is a wonder how we’ve reached 1TB storage now (who even needs that much?).

The iPhone craze is most definitely here to stay.

With impressive new features launched with each model, Apple fanatics and casual phone users have something to look forward to nearly every year.

In fact, according to CIRP, the sales of all four newly released iPhone 14 models made up a massive proportion of 77% of iPhone sales in the US in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2022.

There is a marked increase in the sale of new iPhone models from the previous year, where iPhone 13 models accounted for 70% of the sales.

Yet, people are still vying for a throwback to the late 2000s and purchasing early models of the iPhone at exorbitant prices.

Perhaps, like how fashion trends have slipped into the Y2K era, technology might do the same.

After all, Samsung released a flip phone recently, didn’t they? We may need to bring back buttons for good because the crease in the middle of the screen is bothersome.

On a separate note, do you have any new phones from 15 years ago? We might be writing about you next.