If you thought the new iPhone was pricey, get a look at this old one

We have all likely become used to paying hefty prices for a new iPhone over the years – but how about spending a five-figure sum on an old one?

Fifteen years after it launched at a starting price of $499 (£269 at the time), an unopened version of Apple‘s original handset – also known unofficially as the iPhone 2G, iPhone 1 or original iPhone – has sold at auction for $39,339 (£34,887).

The factory-sealed box contains a device with a whopping eight gigabytes of storage (the iPhone 14 starts with 128GB), a camera with two whole megapixels (the iPhone 14 Pro has 48 on one of its multiple lenses), and even a headphone port (remember those?).

Printed atop the packaging is a picture of the phone and its vintage home screen, sporting now defunct apps like the iPod for music and built-in YouTube.

Many staples of a modern smartphone home screen are nowhere to be seen, with the device predating the likes of Instagram and TikTok.

The idea of a mobile phone with the form and functionality of an iPod touch was a winning formula for Apple, as it became the tech giant’s most successful product ever.

More than a dozen successors have followed since it was unveiled by the late Steve Jobs in 2007, generating stern competition from the likes of Google and Samsung.

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The iPhone has come a long way in 15 years, with the iPhone 14 looking markedly different to the original model.

Gone are the huge borders around the tiny 3.5-inch screen, replaced by one display measuring 6.1 inches.

The once ubiquitous home button is also nowhere to be seen – that’s now reserved for Apple’s “budget” iPhone SE.

And where there was once one camera, there are now at least two, and that’s just on the back.

That’s right, teenagers – the original iPhone did not even have a selfie camera. How did we live…

The sold vintage item is in “exceptional condition”, according to LCG Auctions, with its factory seal sporting “correct seam details and tightness”.

“Brand new, never activated. Collectors and investors would be hard-pressed to find a superior example,” it says.

The phone attracted 28 bids in total, with the winning offer enough to buy 39 iPhone 14 Pros.

Other Apple originals have been known to fetch very high prices, with Apple-1 computers commanding more than £500,000 at auction.

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