Original 2007 iPhone sells for whopping $190K at auction

After expecting to sell for $100,000, an original 4GB iPhone from 2007 has pulled in nearly $200,000 at auction, beating all predictions.

LCG Auctions just sold the original 4GB iPhone for an incredible $190,372.80. The auction originally started just a few weeks ago, when the auctioneers predicted that it’d bring in around $100,000 based on previous sales.

However, it managed to sell for nearly double what was predicted. The final total came after a series of 28 bids on the device, which is still sealed in its packaging. It opened at $10,000 on June 30.

LCG Auctions

The original iPhone launched way back in 2007, bringing with it the future of smartphones. However, it launched with two models, 4GB and 8GB. As the 8GB began to dominate the market, Apple quietly discontinued the 4GB in favor of a much larger 16GB model only a few months after launch.

The highly limited nature of its release has driven the prices of these obsolete devices through the roof. It launched at the price of $499, which adjusted for inflation would be around $734. Technically, the iPhone at auction sold for around 400 times its original value.

Rare 4GB iPhone sells for nearly $200K

LCG Auctions

When the iPhone was originally launched in 2007, it came without an app store. This was introduced in 2008 as an update, and again, revolutionized just how software was distributed on mobile phones.

With the 20th anniversary slowly creeping up, it is also driving collectors wild, as previous sealed devices have also sold for a considerable amount of money too. During the events of 2020 and 2021, trading card games and video games also saw a huge rise in auctions driven by supposed rarity.

While the device might be useless in 2023, we’re assuming that the collector who paid nearly $200,000 plans to keep it sealed rather than use it in their day-to-day device.