Steve Jobs' first ever computer is up for grabs: Working Apple 1 that cost the equivalent of £2,100 in 1976 will be auctioned off for £260,000

Steve Jobs' first ever computer is up for grabs: Working Apple 1 that cost the equivalent of £2,100 in 1976 will be auctioned off for £260,000

A fully operational Apple 1, Steve Jobs' first ever computer, will be auctioned off in Germany in just a few days.

The rare machine is one of eight working models in the world, and is expected to fetch £262,000 ($317,693).

Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created the personal computer in 1976 - but produced only 150 models to sell to their friends and family

The Apple 1 comes complete with original documents and even records of telephone calls with the company founders. 

It was designed and built by hand by Wozniak in the Silicon Valley.

He began marketing it along with Jobs through the electronics chain Byte Shop in 1976, after the retailer bought the first 50 units. 

They originally went on sale for £545, (US $666.66) as Wozniak liked repeating numbers.

Despite it being the first PC ever that was ready to use with monitor and keyboard access, it was delivered as just the motherboard.

This meant users had to get hold of a power pack, keyboard, monitor, and cassette recorder of their own.

Most early computers used different motherboards for each component, but Wozniak decided to put them onto a single board.

THE ICONIC APPLE 1 

Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created the personal computer in 1976 and presented it at a Palo Alto computer club, but there were few takers at the time.

Paul Terrell, owner of a retail chain called Byte Shop, placed an order for 50 of the machines and sold them for $666.66 (£420) retail - once Mr Wozniak and Mr Jobs agreed to assemble the circuit boards rather than offer them as kits.

The pair then produced 150 more and sold them to friends and other vendors.

Fewer than 50 original Apple 1s are believed to have survived, with only eight known to be in working condition.

The Apple 1 did not have a keyboard or monitor, meaning users had to supply their own.

It also had a tiny 8K memory - minuscule by today's standards.

Launched in July 1976, it was priced at $666.66 (£420) - reportedly because Mr Wozniak liked repeating digits.

Jobs sent them direct to buyers from the garage of his parents' house.

It is not known how many were sold but by April 1977 the price had dropped to $475 (£300).

The computer helped kick-start a technological revolution that brought affordable computers out of science labs and into people's homes.

The Apple II was introduced in April 1977 with an integrated keyboard, sound, a plastic case, and eight internal expansion slots.

By the time it was discontinued in October 1977, around 200 Apple 1s had been produced.

It is thought that only 30 to 50 of the computers still exist today and there is rarely an opportunity to buy one.