An original Apple II manual signed by the company’s founder Steve Jobs has sold for more than $1 million at auction, proving that it’s not just the computers that’ll cost you a small fortune.
The manual was sold by RR Auctions in Boston on Thursday for a staggering $1,099,838. For context, you could buy 579 of the latest MacBook Pro models for the same price.
If you’re wondering why it fetched such a massive price at auction, it is largely because an autograph from Jobs is incredibly rare. According to Tricia Eaton, an RR Auctions employee, only eight Jobs autographs have been encountered by the auction house in the last 40 years.
One such product sold at auction was a letter signed from Jobs, in which he wrote “I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs”. Naturally, this sold for a whopping $670,305.
Released in 1977, the Apple II is one of the first ever computers designed for the mass market and is widely regarded as the first successful product from the now-beloved company.
“Whereas the Apple I was primarily for hobbyists, with less than 200 units made, the Apple II truly ‘changed the world’ by giving around six million homes and businesses their first taste of personal computing. Apple II’s revenues supported Apple’s successful floatation, the biggest tech IPO of the time,” RR Auction said in a statement.
The 196-page manual is signed by the late Steve Jobs opposite the page of contents with the following message:
“Julian, Your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980.”
Additionally, the manual is signed by the company’s second CEO Mike Markkula, who was an early investor in the now trillion-dollar company.
According to a statement released by RR Auction, the pair were in the UK promoting Apple when they signed the document for Julian Brewer, the son of an entrepreneur who worked with the company in distribution.
“I was sitting in my bedroom writing games on my Apple II when Dad called me down to meet some guests,” Brewer said in a statement.
“To my amazement it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I had the manual with me and only later understood how rare it was for Jobs to sign anything, let alone to write an inscription like this. He got on well with Dad, so I feel the inscription was made with care.”
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The manual was snapped up by Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team.