In the early days of Apple, co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak faced significant financial challenges while developing their first computer, the Apple-1. To gather the necessary funds, they resorted to selling personal belongings, including Wozniak's scientific calculator and Jobs's Volkswagen van.
The Financial Struggles of Apple Founders
Despite Wozniak's experience in creating commercial products, such as the Atari game Breakout, it wasn't enough to cover the costs involved in building the Apple-1 prototype. Wozniak sold his HP-65 scientific calculator for $500, although he later recalled that the buyer only paid half the amount. Meanwhile, Jobs sold his van for a few hundred dollars, forcing him to rely on a bicycle for transportation.
Securing the First Order
The funds they raised were crucial for ordering their first batch of professional circuit boards. Their big break came when Paul Terrell, the owner of Byte Shop in Mountain View, agreed to purchase 50 Apple-1 boards at $500 each. Terrell's condition was that the boards had to be fully assembled, rather than sold as kits that customers would have to solder together.
The Launch of Apple-1
Apple-1 was later priced at $666.66, an unusual figure that Wozniak chose because it reflected a one-third markup over the wholesale price of $500 and also held a certain appeal with its repeating digits. Although common lore suggests that Apple was born in a garage, Wozniak clarified that the Apple-1 was developed, tested, and had its code refined in his apartment in Cupertino and at his workspace at Hewlett-Packard.
The Legacy of Apple-1
The family garage of Jobs only became a hub later on when friends gathered to help solder chips, test completed boards, and prepare the devices for shipment. The Apple-1 made its public debut in July 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California. For the price at that time, customers received a fully assembled motherboard.
Approximately 200 units of the Apple-1 were produced before the focus shifted to the more advanced Apple II. Today, surviving Apple-1 units frequently sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions, with historically significant circuit boards fetching even higher prices. In early 2026, coinciding with Apple's 50th anniversary, a prototype early-generation Apple-1 sold for an astonishing $2.75 million, showcasing the remarkable return on investment stemming from a calculator and a van.
Source: https://inet.detik.com/consumer/d-8579632/kisah-pendiri-apple-jual-kalkulator-dan-mobil-untuk-modal-apple-1
