A super rare Apple Macintosh Twiggy prototype is set to be sold off at an auction at the prestigious Bonhams. The vintage, old school Macintosh is expected to fetch between US$80,000 (~RM341,880) and US$120,000 (~RM512,820).
The prototype’s nickname, Twiggy, is derived from the 5.25-inch floppy form-factor drive that ran with the built-in disk drive. The auction is expected to begin next week but it supposedly already has a preview listing, complete with details about the prototype, as well as why the 5.25-inch form factor was ultimately scrapped from use.
“Among the last-minute major changes to the Macintosh was the disk drive. The original plan was to use the new 5.25-inch ‘Twiggy’ drive that was built to greatly expand the capacity of standard floppy disks. It soon became apparent with the release of the Lisa, which featured 2 of these drives, that they were very unreliable and that it would be unfeasible to rely on a single ‘Twiggy’ drive.”
This isn’t the first time an Apple product from yore was sold at auction for a handsome sum. A couple of years back, an equally rare Apple-1 prototype, hand soldered by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, was sold at a eye-bleeding US$677,196 (~RM2.9 million).
The auction for the Macintosh Twiggy prototype will begin on 13 October and will continue until 23 October.
(Source: Bonhams, Hot Hardware)
