In 1978, Apple was destroying its first computers; Jobs sent a letter to an engineer

In 1978, Apple was destroying its first computers; Steve Jobs sent a letter to an engineer, with $400, asking to return the machine; he declined; 50 years later it may get $800,000 in auction

Apple spent much of 1977 and 1978 trying to make its first computer disappear. In January 1978, the company’s co-founder Steve Jobs wrote to New Orleans engineer Fred Hatfield, offering him $400 and an upgraded board in exchange for his Apple-1, with instructions to send the old machine back so it could be destroyed.

Hatfield declined. Nearly 50 years later, that decision has turned his Apple-1 into an auction lot with an estimate of up to $800,000.The Hatfield Apple-1 will be sold as part of Bonhams' History of Science, Technology & Computing sale, which will run online from October 4 through October 14, with an estimate of $500,000 to $800,000. It is one of fewer than 75 verified Apple-1 computers known to survive and remains listed as operational.

Steve Wozniak's signature and Steve Jobs’ letter that outlasted Apple's own plans for the machine

The motherboard carries Steve Wozniak's signature and comes with Jobs' 1978 letter to Hatfield, creating an unusually direct connection between Apple's two founders and a single machine. Yet Jobs' letter is more than a piece of celebrity memorabilia. It shows what Apple wanted to happen to this particular computer.Apple had discontinued the Apple-1 in 1977 and began encouraging owners to trade their machines in for newer hardware.

The company destroyed returned Apple-1 boards, helping reduce the surviving population to fewer than half of the 200 computers originally produced. Apple also had a practical reason for the push, since Wozniak was reportedly the only employee able to provide technical support for the ageing machine.Against that backdrop, Jobs' letter to Hatfield becomes something much more revealing than a founder's autograph.

It is a surviving instruction to send one of those increasingly unwanted boards back to Apple.

Why Hatfield turned down Apple's offer

Hatfield had contacted Apple because he was unhappy with the limited software available for the Apple-1. Jobs responded on January 18, 1978, signing as Apple's Vice President, Operations, and authorising Hatfield to return his Apple-1 without its memory chips along with a $400 check in exchange for an Apple II 4K board.Hatfield could keep the memory chips, but the computer itself was supposed to go back to Apple.

The Apple II 4K board retailed for $598 at the time, making Jobs' offer a substantial concession. However, Hatfield decided the upgrade wasn't worth the additional $400 and kept his Apple-1 instead.

A refusal that set up decades of value

That refusal eventually became the defining moment in the computer's history. Hatfield packed the machine securely and carried it through multiple moves rather than discarding it when the Apple-1 became obsolete.He eventually sold it in 2013 for $40,000 when it was not functioning; it was later restored and demonstrated in working order. The computer was then sold at auction for $671,400, showing how dramatically the market had come to value surviving examples of Apple's first computer. It is now returning to the auction block with a potential price of $800,000.