Apple's first ever product to be set up for auction

A rare Apple-1 desktop computer is set to be put up for auction in Germany next month, and could sell for as much as $190,000.

The Apple-1, Apple's first ever product, was sold as a home computer kit, and also as a pre-assembled computer, through the Byte Shop computer store, to meet demand from computing enthusiasts who did not want to assemble their own PC.

The model which is being sold through Auction Team Breker of Cologne, is one of the pre-assembled versions sold by Byte, number 01-0073, which originally retailed at $666.66.

As well as the Apple-1 which is being auctioned, the lot includes, a rare white ceramic 6502 microprocessor and a complete set of time-correct chips. In full working condition, the outfit was consigned by its first (and only) owner, a software engineer from Berkeley in California's Silicon Valley.

Accompanying Apple-1 (No. 01-0073) is an archive of historic documents, including receipt of purchase from Nov. 1976, the earliest provisional manual, correspondence with Apple Inc. and even notes of telephone conversations with Wozniak in 1977.

The auction house estimates that the Apple-1 will sell for €180,000 - 300,000 ($190,000 - 320,000). While there are believed to be around 66 Apple-1s still in existence, between only a few are still in working condition.

In 2014, a working, early Apple 1 was sold at auction for $905,00, while in 2016, an Apple-I prototype made and hand-built by Steve Jobs himself sold for $815,000.

The auction will take place on 20th May. Auction Team Breker specialises in technical antiques - along with the Apple-1, the auction includes a number of rare automata, clocks, music devices and writing machines.