At a notable American auction house, the original iPhone 2G, still sealed in its factory packaging, fetched an impressive sum of 54,900 US dollars. The sale price, converted to local currency at the time, translated to roughly 4.2 million rubles based on the exchange rate from March 18, 2023, a detail reported by MacRumors in its coverage. This sale is tied to the A1203 model, which came equipped with 8 GB of storage and debuted in 2007. When it first appeared on the market, the phone carried a price tag of 599 dollars, a figure that would be about 15,000 rubles using the exchange rate from that era. The parcel’s seller was described as a former Apple employee who had acquired the device soon after its original release and chose to place it up for auction years later. This context helps explain the premium attached to a device that is now remembered as a landmark product in mobile history, underscoring how collectible technology can appreciate in value long after its introduction. The same source notes that the price of the very first iPhone has never been straightforward to pin down, with occasional records indicating bids surpassing the fifty thousand dollar mark. In fact, a separate sale in February 2023 reportedly reached around 63,000 dollars, which would be close to 4.8 million rubles given contemporary exchange rates. These figures illustrate a broader trend: early Apple devices, especially those in pristine, unopened condition, have become highly sought after by collectors and technology enthusiasts alike, driving prices to levels that would have seemed unimaginable a decade ago. In a wider view, MacRumors observes that the market for first-generation iPhones has seen substantial growth over the years, with notable auctions in 2022 featuring bundled units selling for roughly 35,000 to 39,000 dollars. That escalation reflects a mix of nostalgia, historical significance, and the scarcity of mint-condition examples that remain available to buyers. The discussion surrounding these prices is part of a larger conversation about the value placed on vintage and chronicled devices from the earliest days of modern smartphones. It is also worth noting that other outlets in the tech press have discussed shifts in the price environment for new models as well. For instance, reports from Socialbites.ca noted a recent decline in the price of the latest Apple flagship, the iPhone 14, in the Russian market. This development is sometimes cited within markets that follow global price movements for Apple products, illustrating how new and old devices can influence each other in terms of perceived value and resale potential. Overall, collectors and investors in the United States and Canada who track the vintage tech market can observe a consistent pattern: rare, unopened units of iconic devices tend to attract strong bidding at auction, while more typical, widely circulated examples may not command the same premium. The ongoing interest in early iPhone models is driven by a combination of history, build quality, software legacy, and the enduring impact those devices had on the evolution of mobile computing. As buyers weigh history against current technology, the conversation about how much a sealed iPhone 2G is worth continues to evolve, with each headline auction adding another data point to the market narrative. At the end of the day, these prices are not just about a piece of hardware; they reflect a moment in tech history when a single, elegantly simple device changed how people communicate, access information, and view the potential of pocket-sized computers. Enthusiasts in North America often view these sales as milestones that connect today’s connected world with its origins, a reminder that some devices gain cultural and monetary value as time goes by, especially when they arrive in pristine, unopened condition and carry a direct lineage to the very start of a widely influential product line.”
