One of the few remaining examples of Apple Inc`s first pre-assembled computer, Apple-1, sold for $905,000 at an auction in New York on Wednesday, far outstripping expectations.
The relic, which sparked a revolution in home computing, is thought to be one of the first batch of 50 Apple-1 machines assembled by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in Steve Job`s family garage in Los Altos, California in the summer of 1976.
Auction house Bonhams had said it expected to sell the machine, which was working as of September, for between $300,000 and $500,000.
The buyer was The Henry Ford organization, which plans to display the computer in its museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
"The Apple-1 was not only innovative, but it is a key artifact in the foundation of the digital revolution," Henry Ford President Patricia Mooradian said in a statement.
There were few buyers for the first Apples until Paul Terrell, owner of electronics retailer Byte Shop, placed an order for 50 and sold them for $666.66 each.
After that initial success, Jobs and Wozniak produced another 150 and sold them to friends and other vendors.
Previously, a working Apple-I was sold by Sotheby`s auction house in 2012 for $374,500.
Fewer than 50 original Apple-1s are believed to survive.