An original Apple-1 computer has sold as part of Christie's First Bytes auction, becoming the most valuable item ever sold in the auction house's online-only sales.

The world record for an Apple-1 computer has been broken several times over the past 12 months

The early, fully operational computer sold on July 9 for an impressive $387,750. It held a pre-sale estimate of $300,000-500,000.

However, the price is far from the $667,960 auction record, which was set by another Steve Wozniak-signed example, this time equipped with a printer interface, at Auction Team Breker in May.

There are thought to be 50 examples of the Apple-1 computer in existence, with just six in working order.

The landmark machine was produced by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak's now-iconic company in 1976, after the pair were inspired by a meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club.

Jobs famously sold his beloved VW camper van to fund the project, while Wozniak parted with his coveted HP-65 calculator.

The result was one of the earliest personal computers and - unlike many other hobbyist computers of the day -  it came fully assembled, though buyers still had to add a case, power supply, power switch, keyboard and video display.

The market for vintage technology is ever expanding, and is fast becoming a popular collecting area. A huge auction of rare 1980s pinball machines and arcade games was held in May, while a Tengen Tetris game cartridge was offered for $40,000 in a January sale.

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