Dubai expat's rare collection of Apple products traces evolution of tech giant

Dubai - Jimmy Grewal claims he has every major Apple product that was ever launched since the company was founded in 1976.

Diehard fans of Apple products often go into a frenzy when a new product from the tech giant hits shelves. The 4am queues in front of Apple showrooms — in the UAE and globally — when a new iPhone hit the shelves is proof of the brand’s massive popularity.

But how many people remember the first Macintosh computer that Apple launched? Or the first iPhone introduced?

Dubai expat Jimmy Grewal’s love for Apple has turned him into a vintage collector who claims he has every major Apple product that was ever launched since the company was founded by college dropouts Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak in 1976.

Among his rare collection worth millions of dirhams is an original 1976 Apple-1 Computer designed by co-founder Steve Wozniak and assembled by hand in Steve Jobs’ parents’ house; the groundbreaking Apple Lisa computer; the iconic Macintosh of 1984; the Newton MessagePad handheld personal digital assistant, and what is believed to be the first Apple product sold in the UAE - an Apple II computer from 1979.

“I hope my collection will inspire people and help them understand the humble beginnings and the fascinating evolution of Apple in the last 30 years,” Grewal, an ex-Microsoft employee told Khaleej Times, ahead of his first exhibition this weekend. He will be showcasing 40 pieces from his private collection of rare Apple computers at GITEX 2021 from October 17 to 21 (Zabeel Hall 3, Stand Z3-FT1).

The exhibition is organised in partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre as part of the 41st edition of GITEX Global.

Grewal’s AAPL Collection, named after the company’s stock ticker symbol, documents the historic rise of Apple from a Silicon Valley startup to the technology powerhouse that sparked the smartphone revolution. Apple is the most valuable publicly traded company in the world with a market capitalisation of nearly Dh9 trillion ($2.5 trillion).

“This is Apple’s first computer Apple-1 assembled in Steve Job’s proverbial garage. It was not a commercial success and sold fewer than 130 pieces. But that sparked the Apple revolution that allowed them to raise their first investment,” Grewal said, pointing at the motherboard framed neatly in his office in Dubai Investment Park.

The model that has no outer case, screen, keyboard or power supply, is still around, and routinely fetches in excess of Dh1.5 million ($410,000) at auctions.

Grewal, who grew up in Dubai and had worked at Microsoft developing Internet Explorer and Office for Mac before moving back to Dubai, knows each and every item in his 150-strong AAPL Collection.

The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 10, 1977 and were the first fully-assembled and ready-to-use product from Apple. It was also the first personal computer targeted at the consumer market, and the first to support colour graphics. To reflect the computer’s character cell colour graphics capability, the Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes, which remained a part of Apple’s corporate logo until early 1998.

“This is Apple-2 – the second and more successful model they launched in 1977. This is the first mass-produced model, which is easy to use and had the first spreadsheet programme called VisiCalc,” said Grewal who is married to Pavanpreet.

The model was the first computer that supported colour graphics and could be connected to a monitor or a television.

“This is the first time we had an apple on the Apple logo,” said Grewal, who is currently the executive director of Elcome International in Dubai.

An estimated 40,000 machines were sold during its production run, though eventually Apple sold more than 5 million computers from the Apple II family between 1977 and 1993.

“For instance, all the computing powers of all the 150 computers in my collection… they would represent about 1 per cent of the computing power of an iPhone. This collection is a good reminder that you can become the most valuable and successful company in the world and have many failures,” said Grewal.