People really, really want Apple to ditch the iPhone lightning port. So much so, they’re willing to pay more than most do for a new car just for a DIY version.
Swiss robotics student Ken Pilloner just made away with $86,001 for an iPhone X that he retrofitted himself to have a USB-C port at the bottom instead of Apple’s proprietary lightning port. According to Pilloner, the device shouldn’t be updated, restored or used as a primary device, and yet people were still jonesing for it. The starting bid on Tuesday was $3,500, and the highest was a $100,000 bid that was retracted.
According to CNET, Pilloner went on quite the ride in order to modify the device. First, he had to source parts all the way from China, then figure out how to reverse engineer Apple’s C95 connector, create a custom circuit board, and, finally, find a way to fit all the necessary components inside the phone.
