AP
- An Apple iPhone from 2007 sold for more than $63,000 at an auction on Sunday.
- It sold for more than 100 times higher than its original sale price of $599.
- The owner didn't use the iPhone or open the packaging after receiving it in 2007.
A first-generation, unopened iPhone from 2007 sold for more than $63,000 at an auction on Sunday. It's the highest price an original iPhone has been sold for.
LCG Auctions, which handled the auction, said on its website the device went for $63,356.40, which was more than 100 times its original price.
More than 15 years ago, Apple sold the original iPhone for $599. The gadget was initially available with 4GB or 8GB of storage, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 3.5-inch screen, per LCG Auctions.
Insider's Sarah Jackson previously reported the particular iPhone sold at auction belonged to Karen Green, a cosmetic tattoo artist in New Jersey. Green was gifted the iPhone, but she never opened it because she was tied into a Verizon contract, which wasn't available to iPhones.
Green considered selling the iPhone over the years, but kept it until she contacted LCG Auctions in October after learning that another first-generation iPhone from 2007 was sold for nearly $40,000. She told Insider's Jackson she needed the money for her cosmetic tattoo studio.
The auction opened on February 2 and closed on February 19. The auction house told Insider that Green had a "really unique piece with a great story behind it."
Bidding for the iPhone started at $2,500 and was expected to be sold for at least $50,000, but it ended up going for $13,000 more.
Apple launched the first iPhone in January 2007 — 16 years ago — when Steve Jobs was in charge. When Jobs announced the phone at a Macworld conference, he called it "revolutionary."