Polaroid Snapshots of the First Apple Computers Ever Made

Technologizer's Harry McCracken has unearthed some photographs taken by Paul Terrell of the Byte Shop in Mountain View, California in 1976. At the time, the Byte Shop was one of the only computer stores in the world, and ended up being the first dealer for an upstart company called Apple Computer.

According to Terrell, Jobs and Wozniak came into his shop with the first version of the Apple-1 asking him to sell it to his customers. Here's an early photo of the circuit board hooked up to a keyboard and monitor.

NewImage

They called their machine the Apple-1, and it was a bare board; any buyers would have to solder on the necessary chips themselves, then supply accoutrements such as a power supply, keyboard and display.

Terrell was intrigued, but told Jobs that what he really needed were fully-assembled computers. In fact, if Jobs could come back with an assembled version of the Apple-1, the Byte Shop would buy fifty of them. Jobs did, and the Byte Shop became the first Apple dealer (it eventually offered the Apple-1 in a wooden case with keyboard and power supply).

Terrell eventually paid $500 each for 50 Apple-1's, which history says sold for $666.66 each at retail. There are more pictures, and some additional backstory, at Technologizer.

Popular Stories

wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
maxresdefault

Apple Shows Off a Key Reason to Upgrade to the iPhone 17

Saturday February 7, 2026 9:26 am PST by
Apple today shared an ad that shows how the upgraded Center Stage front camera on the latest iPhones improves the process of taking a group selfie. "Watch how the new front facing camera on iPhone 17 Pro takes group selfies that automatically expand and rotate as more people come into frame," says Apple. While the ad is focused on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the regular iPhone...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...

Top Rated Comments

arn Avatar
172 months ago
Slow news day today Arn?

Slow comment day today?

arn
Score: 65 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Yvan256 Avatar
172 months ago
I find it sad that people find this kind of news boring. It's the beginning, the roots of Apple. Without that beginning, there probably would not be Macs, iPhones or iPads today. Then again, without Apple, perhaps Commodore would not have stood on their ass and we'd all be using Amiga computers today.

People today only want a new iPhone with a new shape or a bigger screen and they don't even seem to care when it looks exactly the same but everything inside has been upgraded.

But to us nerds, which is the kind of people it takes to build such devices by the way, this kind of news is 1000 times more interesting than hearing about lawsuits or contract deals with heartless media mega-corporations.

If you don't like a story, just don't comment on it or start your own website where you can approve the stories yourself. Anything else is just noise that doesn't add anything to the discussion of the topic.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RawBert Avatar
172 months ago
Never mind th cynics Arn, I love seeing stuff like this. Hell, it beats another iTV or law suit rumor.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Saladinos Avatar
172 months ago
According to Terrell, Jobs and Wozniak came into his shop with the first version of the Apple-1 asking him to sell it to his customers.

Terrell was intrigued, but told Jobs that what he really needed were fully-assembled computers. In fact, if Jobs could come back with an assembled version of the Apple-1, the Byte Shop would buy fifty of them. Jobs did, and the Byte Shop became the first Apple dealer (it eventually offered the Apple-1 in a wooden case with keyboard and power supply).

This is the kind of thing that doesn't exist any more in today's world.

These days, you'd have all sorts of regulatory and legal hurdles: you'd need certification for wireless parts, you'd need to invest a significant amount of time in protecting your IP (trademarks), and you'd probably get a fair number of aggressive patent challenges.

You can't just make something and take it to a shop and get it sold to people any more.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MultiMediaWill Avatar
172 months ago
Slow news day today Arn?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G51989 Avatar
172 months ago
Never mind th cynics Arn, I love seeing stuff like this. Hell, it beats another iTV or law suit rumor.

Indeed, I'd rather see pictures of the first Apples than hear about a lawsuit or some ****** TV.

This is 10 times more interesting.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)