Factory-sealed 2007 Apple iPhone 4GB sells for PHP 10.3 million

Let’s rewind the clock a bit. More than a decade ago, Steve Jobs revealed the original iPhone 26 at Macworld 2007. At the time, the original iPhone was only available in two variants – a base 4GB model and an 8GB model. In the US, the 4GB variant retailed for USD 499PHP 29,284INR 42,290EUR 475CNY 3,632, while the 8GB model sold for USD 599PHP 35,153INR 50,765EUR 570CNY 4,360, both of which required a 2-year contract.

No doubt the original iPhone is expensive even for the base 4GB, and it continues to be today. However, it seems these pieces of digital history have now gone up in price, and are fetching high prices at auction. Just how high? Well, a factory-sealed first-release iPhone 4GB just sold for USD 190,372.80PHP 11,172,123INR 16,134,057EUR 181,292CNY 1,385,590 or roughly PHP 10.4USD 0.18INR 15EUR 0.17CNY 1 million at LCG Auctions.

Yes, someone paid PHP 10.4USD 0.18INR 15EUR 0.17CNY 1 million for a factory-sealed first-release iPhone 4GB. What do they plan to do with it? We don’t know, but it would be a nice collection to have.

One thing we do know is that the starting bid is already pricey – USD 10,000PHP 586,855INR 847,498EUR 9,523CNY 72,783 or approximately PHP 546,000USD 9,304INR 788,752EUR 8,862CNY 67,759. Based on the bid history, things moved slowly since it was first listed on June 30, 2023. It wasn’t until July 16 did the bids skyrocketed.

Interestingly, LCG Auction says the 4GB variant of the original iPhone is the pricer model to collect as compared to the 8GB model. For reference, a factory sealed 8GB model sold earlier this year for USD 63,000PHP 3,697,187INR 5,339,237EUR 59,995CNY 458,533 or PHP 3.4USD 0.06INR 5EUR 0.06CNY 0.42 million.

“The original 4GB model is considered a “Holy Grail” amongst iPhone collectors. Its extreme scarcity is directly related to its limited production. Debuting on June 29th, 2007, alongside the 8GB model, the 4GB model was hampered by slow sales. Buyers chose to pay the $100PHP 5,869INR 8,475EUR 95CNY 728 upcharge in exchange for double the storage space. The lagging sales resulted in Apple making the decision to discontinue the 4GB model on September 5th, 2007, just over two months after it was first released,” says LCG Auction.

So if you have an unopened first-gen iPhone in storage, you might want to sell it. Who knows, it could fetch you some big bucks at auction.