Hey, quick question: If you had an extra $200,000 in your bank account, what would you spend it on? You’d probably spend it on a house or maybe a new car (a couple of new cars?). What you probably wouldn’t do is pay that much for a 16 year old iPhone. But that’s what happened over the weekend.
The original iPhone was released in June 2007.. At the time, Apple released two versions of what would become its most successful product ever: a 4GB storage model that costs $499 and an 8GB model that costs $599. And it’s this 4GB model that has become a bit of a collector’s item. This is because in 2007 the 4GB version sold slower than its 8GB counterpart. Most people paid an extra $100 to double the phone’s storage, and as a result, Apple discontinued the 4GB version just two months after its release in September 2007. even fewer remained sealed in their boxes. This (sort of) explains why a sealed, brand new iPhone 4GB from 2007 sold at auction for $190,372.80.
Like reported by TweakTown On July 16, the supposedly very rare iPhone 4GB, Sold to an unknown buyer on LCGAuctions.com for about $200,000.
LCG Auctions’ product description indicates that the old Apple phone is the “Holy Grail” among phone collectors. The phone that went up for auction was still sealed in its original box and apparently from the factory where it was in “extraordinary condition”. Claiming that the sender was part of the original engineering team at Apple during the iPhone launch, LCGAuctions explains how they probably got hold of such a rare device and why they never unlocked it.
Other iPhones sold for similarly high prices
This isn’t the first iPhone to sell for large sums of money at auction. LCGAuctions cites several other Apple devices from the same period that have sold for unbelievable prices in the previous nine months, including two factory-sealed 8GB iPhones. One was sold in October of last year $39,339and another hit $63,356 last February. And yet another one of those old, original and still sealed iPhones has been sold $40,000 this yearbought (and opened) By YouTuber Marques Brownlee.
What is going on here? Well, some of these big ticket auctions including legacy technology, video games, and collectibles part of some kind of money laundering or price-setting antics. For example, some video game auctions Contains sealed copies of Nintendo games going tens of thousands of dollars It is part of some alleged blackmail involving item classifiers, auction houses, and wealthy customers. However, all the companies involved have denied the allegations, and there is no direct evidence to suggest that these recent iPhone auctions were part of a larger conspiracy or otherwise linked to illegal activities.
Regardless of what’s going on, if you want an old iPhone or some other collectible tech item, you should probably buy it now before prices go higher in the future. Maybe it will pay for your kid’s college or AI applications or something similar that he or she will need to compete in the job market of the 2040s.
