Original Polaroids of Apple-1 Prototype from Steve Jobs Pitch Demo Hit Auction Block (Exclusive)

Stemming from what’s been described as the “biggest single episode in all of the company’s history” by Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak, the pictures feature elements of the “Apple-1,” Jobs’ prototype computer as part of his successful pitch deck to pioneering computer retailer Paul Terrell.

The owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, CA gave Jobs and his nascent computer company their first big sale, a COD (“cash on delivery”) order for 50 Apple-1 computers for $25,000, at “Net 30,” meaning Terrell had 30 days to pay for them.

This sale gave Jobs and his business partner Steve “Woz” Wozniak the seed capital they needed to start manufacturing their first line of Apple computers, as well as credit with suppliers for parts.

The photographs are from Terrell’s personal collection. It was originally believed that Terrell had taken the pictures himself, but his recollection is that Jobs provided the snaps as part of his pitch deck, and then left them at the Byte Shop.

The vintage, original Polaroids feature three shots of what was then called the “Apple Computer A.” One featured an overview of the complete setup, another a closeup of the computer board, and the third the monitor with “This is the Apple Computer-1” on the screen.

It was Terrell’s influence that helped Jobs and Wozniak develop what would be fully-completed computers for the public. Their initial plan was to just produce their circuit boards for electronic hobbyists to incorporate into their own systems. They planned to sell them for $40.

Terrell’s offer was for fully assembled computers ready to be used right off the shelf. As such, those 50 Apple-1 systems became one of the first-ever “personal” computers available to the public retailing at $666.66. These photographs offer a rare look into their prototype design stage before Jobs and Wozniak transformed them into what hit the market.

As noted in the auction listing, the pictures were previously published in Time back in November 22, 2012, where they were dubbed “some of the first Apple Computer photos ever.” Aside from Jobs and Terrell, the photographs were also held by the Living Computer Museum for a time, with two of them retaining that museum’s inventory labels on the back.

These pictures of the Apple-1 prototype follow RR Auction’s sale of the actual Apple-1 prototype itself, hand-soldered by Wozniak, for $677,000. Over the first ten months of production, Jobs and Wozniak produced 200 units, selling 175 of them.

Of the sale to The Byte Shop, Wozniak said, “That was the biggest single episode in all of the company’s history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.”

The rest, as they say, is technology history.