The $666 Board That Built Apple: How the Apple I Changed Computing 50 Years Ago

The $666 Board That Built Apple: How the Apple I Changed Computing 50 Years Ago Americans of a certain age may well remember growing up with an Apple II in the classroom, and the perpetual temptation it held out to play The Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, or perhaps Lode Runner. More than a few recess gamers went on to computer-oriented careers, but only the most curious sought an answer to the question implied in the machine’s name: was there an Apple I? Half a century after the foundation of Apple, Inc., then known as Apple Computer, the product that launched what’s now one of the world’s most valuable companies remains very much an obscurity. Unless you frequent computer museums, you’re unlikely ever to have laid eyes on an Apple I, let alone used one. Even if one of the existing models were to come on the market, you’d need about half a million dollars to buy it. It’s actually easier to buy the parts that went into an Apple I and build it yourself — which,

Added 22 Apr 2026