Steve Jobs' handwritten Apple ad sells for over $175,000

In the realm of auctions, items associated with Apple's early days tend to command substantial bids.

Whether it's an inaugural computer from the 1970s, a mint-condition original iPhone or even a pre-Apple job application submitted by Steve Jobs, the luminary who co-established and later reshaped the technology behemoth into an unparalleled corporate triumph, prices tend to soar.

A fresh addition to this collection has just seen the gavel drop at Boston's RR Auction, fetching an astonishing $175,759 - an impressive sixfold over initial estimates. This newly sold piece is a plain sheet of paper carrying a handwritten ad draft written by Steve Jobs. The advertisement is a prototype for the promotion of Apple Computer-1, which was initially launched in 1976 as the Apple Computer, later attaining the branding of Apple I or Apple-1.

The advertisement itself is simple and to the point highlighting the technical specifications of Apple's pioneering computing device. Significantly, Jobs' lowercase signature is at the bottom of the draft, alongside the address of his parents' home.

According to RR Auction's listing for the lot, the advertisement is "neatly penned in black ink on an off-white 8.5 x 11 binder sheet" and was gifted to the consignor during a visit to Jobs' garage in 1976. The rudimentary ad functions as a preliminary specification sheet for the Apple-1, encompassing features such as "All Power Supplies, 8K bytes of RAM (16 pin 4K dynamic), full crt terminal—input: ASC11 Keybd, output: composite vidio [sic], fully expandable to 65K via edge connector, 58 ic’s which includes 16 for 8K ram!! Monitor software (for 2 proms on board (256 bytes) included".

The listing indicates that Jobs makes reference to an anticipated "basic on the way (ROM)".

This concept never manifested for the Apple-1 but was subsequently introduced with the Apple II the ensuing year. The advertisement concludes with a quote from the late Apple visionary, who lists a price of $75 for the "board only + manual, a real deal".