An original sealed iPhone recently sold for $35,414 (roughly R598,890) in an online auction.

The auction listing, first spotted by MacRumors, describes the model offered as an “unopened first generation original Apple iPhone” in a “brand new, factory sealed condition”.

It carried model number A1203 with order designation MA712LL/A (8GB).

The listing also pointed out that the box featured 12 icons on the iPhone’s screen, with the iTunes Store icon absent.

This suggested the iPhone up for auction was an early production model, as Apple only added the iTunes Store app after September 2007 with iPhone OS version 1.1.

The images below show the front and one side of the box of the auctioned iPhone.

The first iPhone models were launched in June 2007, following three years of development by 1,000 employees working under lead hardware engineer Tony Fadell, software engineer Scott Forstall, and design engineer Jony Ives.

The first-generation model featured a 3.5-inch 320 x 480 TFT display, single 2MP rear camera, and storage options of 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB.

Although its use of a large capacitive multi-touch display was considered ground-breaking and set a precedent for future smartphone designs, it did not sell well compared to other phones at the time.

Only about 6.1 million units were sold, compared to the hundreds of millions of new conventional bar phones Nokia sold that same year.

But Apple’s subsequent releases saw shipments grow into the tens and hundreds of millions.

2014’s iPhone 6 and 2015’s iPhone 6S series have been the most successful to date — with combined sales of roughly 400 million.

Below are images of the back of the box of the original iPhone sold in the online auction.

Comments section policy: MyBroadband has a new article comments policy which aims to encourage constructive discussions. To get your comments published, make sure it is civil and adds value to the discussion.

Which gaming platform do you prefer?