‘Hatfield’ Apple One Computer Signed by Wozniak Sets New Record at $1.15-Million

Bidding closed after twenty eight minutes of competition between two collectors when the Hatfield Apple One reached $1.148-million including the buyer premium at Bonhams in New York. That figure established a new world auction record for any commercially sold production Apple One and cleared the pre sale estimate of $500,000 to $800,000 by a wide margin.

Fred Hatfield, a Computer Data Systems employee, purchased this 1976 Apple unit for $666.60. Listed as number 48 in the Apple One Registry, this one is now part of an incredibly small group of 74 verified survivors from the first batch and 1 of a smaller sub-group that can still power on and run programs today.

Check out Steve Wozniak’s signature on the motherboard’s top edge. It features a white ceramic MOS Tech 6502 CPU, 8K of RAM, three original Sprague Big Blue caps, a keyboard interface, and a matching tape interface board. The package includes the original operation handbook, a prototype BASIC user guide, an invitation to the Apple One Owners Club, a custom power supply, a vintage video monitor, a tape recorder, and a pair of keyboards.

A typed letter from Steve Jobs, dated January 18, 1978, offered Hatfield an Apple Two motherboard in return for the Apple One plus $400, with the catch that he had to give up the Apple One. Fred wasn’t having it and kept the baby. Years later, he sold it in non-working condition for a tidy sum of $40,000, which went directly to supporting his dinner habit on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans.

Later, someone must have decided to restore it to its former glory, as it was last spotted being auctioned off in 2013. The price it fetched was a hefty $671,000, which is fair considering these Apple One computer was originally built in limited quantities of a mere 220 units, with just 175 of those sold.

This example arrived at market during the company fiftieth anniversary year, carrying both the Wozniak signature and the Jobs letter that documents direct contact with the founders. Ian Ehling of Bonhams described the result as an exceptional outcome for one of the most important milestones in computing history and one of the most significant Apple One computers ever offered.