A Boxed Original iPhone Or S&P 500: Which Investment Triumphed In The Long Run?

Apple, Inc. AAPL on Monday unveiled the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, potentially its next big product after the iPhone. Although expectations are muted, given the fat price tag and the still-nascent product category, analysts are positive about its long-term potential.

Coinciding with the Vision Pro launch, a Twitter user explored a quirky idea of how much an investment in the first-ever iPhone would be worth now.

Apple’s First-Gen iPhone: The first generation, now retroactively called iPhone 2G or iPhone 1, was announced on Jan. 9, 2008, and it was launched in the U.S. on June 29, 2007. The iPhone was priced at either $499 or $599, depending on the storage option, which was either 4 GB or 8 GB. It weighed 4.8 ounces, with a dimension of 4.5×2.4×0.46" and a screen size of 3.5". The iPhone 1, which came with a 2-megapixel camera, ran on 2G wireless and it was exclusive to AT&T network.

An unboxed iPhone 1 earlier this year sold for $63,356.40 in an auction, according to auctioneer LCG Auctions. The starting bid was $2,500 and there were 27 bids.

See Also: Everything You Need To Know About Apple Stock

iPhone Vs. S&P: If an Apple user who spent $599 on the first-ever iPhone chose to invest the amount in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index, he would have had 5.4 units of the ETF.

The same 5.4 units would be worth roughly 2,320 now.

A buyer of the iPhone 1 would have generated a return of 10,477% compared to the 297% return he would have made if he had invested the same amount in the ETF, considered a proxy for the broader S&P 500 Index.

Apple closed Tuesday's session down 0.21% at $179.21, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Read Next: The $3500 Question: Apple’s Vision Pro Or A Bucketful Of Other Gadgets?