This OG iPhone is selling for crazy money at auction right now

Steve Jobs and iPhone
(Image credit: Apple)

The original iPhone changed the world of smartphones, but buying one brand new today is going to cost you a small fortune. Is it worth it? You be the judge.

Right now a sealed, first generation iPhone is available via auction with just a couple of days left before it's time to call an end to bidding. How high will the price be by then? Nobody knows. Be we do know that it's already insanely high.

So much money

The original iPhone was first announced back in 2007 with then-CEO Steve Jobs responsible for the big on-stage unveiling. At the time the handset sold for just $499 if you wanted the 4GB version or $599 if you wanted to double the storage.

Right now, you can get your hands on an 8GB original iPhone for upwards of $10,446. That's the price that the action is sitting at at the time of writing, and it's only going to go up from here.

The auction page, reported on by 9to5Mac,  says that this iPhone is factory sealed and is a first-release example, adding "virtually flawless along the surface and edges, the factory seal is clean with correct seam details and tightness."

"Collectors and investors would be hard-pressed to find a superior example," the auction notes, and that's the key. While this iPhone can't compete with the new iPhone 14 in almost any way, it's undoubtedly the best iPhone if you want a piece of history.

And you have the deep pockets to pay for it, of course. If you do, you can follow along with the auction right now and maybe treat yourself to an original iPhone — 8GB, no less — before the auction ends on Sunday. Then all you need to do is decide whether you actually open the thing.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.