Apple Computer, Inc. was founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April 1, 1976. The duo aimed to revolutionize the personal computer, creating a user-friendly device that could fit in a user’s home or office. In the decades since, Apple products have become ubiquitous – the majority of Americans own at least one Apple product.

Our online History of Science & Technology auction features various items from Apple’s history – from an original building sign to an Original Macintosh.

Read on to learn about five historic Apple items live for bidding until 8 November.

Lot 69

Apple Computer, Inc. Company Building Sign

This iconic Apple rainbow logo was saved after it was removed from the exterior of building 3 at Apple’s Cupertino corporate headquarters following the company’s move toward its current monochrome logo.

The rainbow logo was designed by Rob Janoff, who had worked for the design firm Regis McKenna, and was commissioned at Steve Jobs’ request. It was just in time for the release of the Apple II. Jobs appreciated the simplicity of the apple and insisted on the use of colors to “humanize” the company. Even after all these years, the friendly rainbow still seems implied in the current, modernized Apple logo.

Lot 76

Apple iPhone 1 Sealed in Original Box with Fantastic Provenance

The Apple iPhone is one of the most impactful inventions of the 21^st century and the device that transformed Apple into the world’s largest tech company. This factory-sealed iPhone 1 has distinguished provenance: It was gifted to long-time The Price is Right producer Roger Dobkowitz by incoming host Drew Carey on July 24, 2007, just weeks after it was released.

Dobkowitz recalls:  "He [Drew Carey] came to our office at CBS on July 24, 2007 to be briefed by me on the workings of the show. He brought iPhones as a gift to all of us on the staff (11 of us in total). Everyone was quite ecstatic... it had been released just 3 weeks earlier and it was a big thing in the news. I did not open mine, because I did not like cell phones and had no intention of using it. I put it away in a drawer and did not think about it until years later... then I put it in our safe!"

Stay updated with our auctions. Sign up to receive your weekly newsletter of global auctions, stories and more. Subscribe now

Lot 73

Apple Macintosh 128K with Original Packaging, 1984

This original Apple Macintosh from the year of its introduction comes in its original packaging. It has become difficult to remember computing before the Macintosh. Steve Jobs oversaw every detail of this revolution in computing and his vision was to create a product that was “insanely great.”

The Macintosh is the computer that introduced most of the world to the mouse, a GUI (graphical user interface) and the WYSIWIG (what you see is what you get) approach. It’s uncanny that almost 40 years on, the original Macintosh interface is still intuitive.

Lot 71

Apple's First Mouse as New in Original Box

Steve Jobs had made a deal with Xerox during the summer of 1979 in which he allowed them to buy 100,000 shares of Apple stock in exchange for access to Xerox PARC's technology. The mouse, originally designed by Doug Englebart, was one of the elements of the Xerox Alto that so impressed the Apple team. 

Xerox PARC developed Engelbart’s mouse for their Alto computer in the 1970s, but it was Apple that took the idea and modified it to make it a commercially viable product. The present example is as new in the original packaging. The Apple Lisa mouse from 1983 was one of the first that was commercially available. Although it wouldn’t be until 1984, when the Apple Macintosh was released, that the wider public would experience mouse-driven computing.

Lot 72

Apple Lisa 2/10-Macintosh XL in Original Box

The Apple Lisa was the company’s first foray into computing with a mouse-driven GUI (graphical user interface) that was popularized with the Apple Macintosh introduced a year later. The Macintosh was designed as a “friendly” computer for every home, but the Lisa was directed towards the corporate world and was priced accordingly. It was released in January 1983, and due to its high price ($9,995) and the unreliability of the “Twiggy” floppy disks, relatively few were sold.

The present example is Apple’s final attempt to find a market for the innovative machine. It includes a much more reliable 3 ½-inch floppy drive and a 10MB hard drive. Still, it was a commercial failure, and the remaining stock was sold to Sun Remarketing who upgraded the computers and extended the life for a few years before Apple had the remaining units sent to a landfill.

Register to bid in History of Science & Technology

Browse all lots in our sale, including published works by Albert Einstein, model airplanes, Space photography, and much more.

For the latest news and auction highlights, follow @bonhamsbooks on Instagram