The one of a kind, special edition red Mac Pro designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson brought in a whopping $977k at Sotheby’s (RED) Auction this evening in New York. The custom Mac was estimated to sell for $40-60,000, but ended up fetching quite a bit more than its value, as did the majority of the other items sold at the charity auction. Recently, Ive and Newson shared their thoughts on the auction and design in an interview on Charlie Rose.
Also sold at tonight’s auction were a custom designed Leica camera created by Marc and Jony which sold for over $1.8M, a set of gold Apple EarPods that brought in $461k, and a one of a kind aluminum desk, again designed by Newson and Ive, that sold for a staggering $1.68M, after being estimated at $300-$500k. For a listing of all of the products sold at tonight’s auction, check out the Sotheby auction page.
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All I can say is WHY? That’s way to much for a $3500 dollar system :( I know it’s for a good cause but DAMN!
Why? Charity!
Also, I maybe tax deductible.
It’s a collector’s item. I doubt it will ever get plugged in and turned on.
How will now, we “Apple’s fanboys” convince others that there is not any “Apple’s tax” over their products?
That’s pretty cool that they get the mac pro before everyone else :D And they donated all that money for it. Bravo. All I can say is, it must be nice to have all that money…
I don’t even know what to write. It s overwhelming to think the buyers of these products probably go there to spend a casual shopping day. So much money just for “fun”.
Anyone else thinks this is the reason for the new MacPro not being available for sale?
No one thinks this nonsense.
Does the buyer get iLife, iWork, and Mavericks for free?
I wonder if that thing is fully loaded, which would really push up the actual retail price. I bet it will never be plugged in, the buyer must be able to purchase others for that purpose.
I do not think it is “fully loaded,” Well, he must open the Mac App store and download iWork!
No one is going to plug in and turn on a one-of-a-kind Mac Pro that they spent nearly a million dollars on.
They’ll squat on it for 5 years and sell it for 5 million.
..ships in Dec 2014.
What is the money used for for these RED charity products?
The charity focuses on eliminating AIDS, particularly in Africa
Nothing, actually. Like most mainstream charities it is a front and a tax shelter for a criminal cabal.
The price you have to pay to be assured that you are the first buyer of the new MacPro. Sometimes it tough to be an early adopter ;)
and we wonder why people feel our system is out of control… time to build guillotines..
How stupid and worthless can you possibly be? You recognize this is 100% charity, yes? Not some masturbatory rich person’s auction? Shut up about things you can’t possibly comprehend.
Charity, when it helps, is a good thing but spending that much on a mass produced item? Even if it looks great anodised red, it is astonishing.
Given there were much more unique Pieces, the MacPro gets a million bucks?
Jony must be pleased but scratching his ‘ead.