The Apple I sold for $666.66 in 1976

The first Apple computer, called the Apple I, cost $666.66 when it went on sale in July 1976. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the first units by hand in a garage in Los Altos, California, and sold them through the Byte Shop, a computer store in Mountain View run by Paul Terrell.

That price was steep for the time. The average American household income in 1976 was around $15,000 a year, so the Apple I cost roughly what a person earned in two weeks of full-time work. The computer itself was just a circuit board with a processor, memory, and basic input-output connections—no keyboard, monitor, or power supply included. A buyer had to add those parts separately, which meant the total cost to have a working computer was significantly higher.

Key Takeaways

  • The Apple I retailed for $666.66 when it launched in 1976, a price set by Paul Terrell at the Byte Shop.
  • The price reflected what the computer cost to build plus a modest markup, not a strategy to undercut competitors.
  • Buyers had to purchase a keyboard, monitor, and power supply separately, making the real cost of ownership much higher than the base price.
  • The Apple II, released in 1977, cost $1,298 but came as a complete, ready-to-use system and became the first mass-market personal computer.

Why $666.66 was the asking price

The price was not arbitrary. Paul Terrell, the Byte Shop owner who placed the first order, negotiated directly with Jobs and Wozniak. Terrell wanted 50 units and offered to pay $500 per board. Jobs and Wozniak calculated their cost to build each unit—parts, labor, and overhead—and added a markup. The result was $666.66 per board, which Terrell accepted.

This was not a discount strategy or a loss leader. The two Steves were not trying to undercut other computer makers or build market share through low prices. They were straightforward pricing the product to cover their costs and earn a reasonable profit on each sale. The Apple I was a hobbyist machine sold to people who already understood electronics and wanted to build their own systems.

What you actually got for that money

The Apple I was a bare circuit board about the size of a paperback book. It contained a 6502 processor running at 1 megahertz, 4 kilobytes of RAM (expandable to 8 or 16 kilobytes), and a basic ROM chip that let you interact with the machine through a keyboard and monitor. There was no case, no keyboard, no monitor, and no power supply in the box.

A buyer had to source those parts themselves. A monitor cost $300 to $500 on its own. A keyboard and power supply added another $100 to $200. So the real cost to have a working Apple I was closer to $1,200 to $1,400—roughly equivalent to $6,000 to $7,000 in 2024 dollars. This is why the Apple I remained a niche product, sold mainly to hobbyists and engineers who enjoyed building and tinkering with computers.

How the Apple II changed the pricing model

A year later, in April 1977, Apple released the Apple II at $1,298. This was more than double the Apple I price, but it was a completely different product. The Apple II came in a plastic case, included a keyboard, had a power supply built in, and shipped with 4 kilobytes of RAM standard. You could plug it into any television set and start using it when ready.

The higher price reflected the higher value. The Apple II was the first personal computer designed to be a finished product rather than a kit or a hobbyist board. It was also the first to achieve real commercial success, selling hundreds of thousands of units over the next several years. The price point—higher than the Apple I but still within reach of small businesses and affluent households—helped establish Apple as a serious computer maker rather than a garage startup.

The context of 1976 computer pricing

The Apple I was not the cheapest computer available in 1976, but it was among the most affordable. The Altair 8800, which launched in 1975 and sparked the personal computer revolution, cost $395 for a kit (you had to assemble it yourself) or $495 fully assembled. However, the Altair had no keyboard or monitor support and was even more limited in what you could do with it out of the box.

Larger computers and minicomputers cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. The IBM System/3, a business computer, cost around $5,000. The Commodore PET, released in 1977, cost $595 for the base model but also came as a complete system. The Apple I's $666.66 price positioned it as a serious hobbyist machine—more capable than the Altair but still aimed at people who understood electronics.

Why the exact number $666.66

The choice of $666.66 has been the subject of some speculation over the years. Some people have suggested that Wozniak chose it as a joke or a reference to the biblical "number of the beast," but there is no documented evidence for this. The most straightforward explanation is that it was a markup calculation: the cost to build each unit was roughly $500, and adding a 33 percent markup ($166.66) arrived at $666.66.

Wozniak has mentioned in interviews that the price was straightforward what made sense given their costs and the market they were selling into. It was not a symbolic choice or a marketing gimmick. It was a price that covered expenses, paid the two Steves for their work, and left room for the retailer to make a profit on resale.

How that price compares to computers today

Adjusting for inflation, $666.66 in 1976 is roughly equivalent to $3,200 to $3,500 in 2024 dollars, depending on which inflation measure you use. A modern entry-level laptop or desktop computer costs between $400 and $1,000 and is vastly more powerful—millions of times faster, with gigabytes of storage instead of kilobytes, and a complete operating system and software included.

The Apple I was a raw computing platform. The buyer had to know how to program it or be willing to learn. Today's computers come ready to use, with applications pre-installed and the ability to connect to the internet and run software from day one. The price difference reflects not just inflation but a fundamental shift in what a computer is and who it is for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Apple make a lot of money from the Apple I?

No. Apple sold only about 200 Apple I units before discontinuing it in 1977. At $666.66 per unit, even with a healthy markup, the total revenue was modest. The real money came later with the Apple II and subsequent products. The Apple I was important for proving the concept and building the company's reputation, not for profit.

Could you buy an Apple I today?

You cannot buy a new one, but original Apple I computers do appear at auction and in private collections. Prices for working originals range from $200,000 to over $900,000, depending on condition and provenance. These are collector's items, not functional computers for everyday use.

What happened to people who bought the Apple I?

Most Apple I owners were hobbyists and engineers who used them to learn about computers or run straightforward programs. Some kept them as historical artifacts. When the Apple II came out, many people upgraded because it was a much more capable and user-friendly machine. The Apple I became obsolete quickly but is now valued as a piece of computing history.

Was $666.66 a good price compared to other computers at the time?

It was competitive for a hobbyist machine. The Altair 8800 kit cost $395, but it was harder to use. The Commodore PET cost $595 and came as a complete system. The Apple I was in the middle—more expensive than the Altair but cheaper than many other options, and it offered a good balance of capability and price for people who knew what they were doing.