Fans of the firm created by Steve Jobs will be able to acquire these antiques, which trace the rise of one of the most influential brands in the world.

The "Hanspeter Luzi Vintage Apple Archive" collection was collected over decades by a Swiss professor and entrepreneur, who is now parting with it.

These old computers, once everyday components, are now "historic objects" explained to AFP Erik Rosenblum of the auction house Julien's Auctions, which organizes this sale in Beverly Hills near Los Angeles.

They "really shaped the zeitgeist, and changed the way we work, learn, operate and communicate," he added.

The collection includes an Apple II Plus, an antique produced between 1979 and 1982, which looks like a typewriter topped with a screen, and has a record player and gamepad.

Enthusiasts will also be able to acquire an original Macintosh from 1984, the distant ancestor of the apple-branded flat screens that populate many offices today.

"All of these parts are the grandfathers of our iPhones, iPads and iMacs," Rosenblum summed up.

"It's very cool to see the evolution."

An Apple Powerbook 5300ce computer, released in January 1995, displayed at Julien's Auctions before a March auction, on February 22, 2023 in Gardena, California © Frederic J. BROWN / AFP

This auction will take place on March 30.

It will take place in a context of very strong interest in vintage items from Apple: this weekend, an American who had kept an iPhone from 2007, never unboxed, managed to sell it for more than 63,000 dollars online.

© 2023 AFP