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A rare iPhone has sold for almost $200,000. The phone was an original 2007 model of the iPhone, still factory sealed in its box. It is rare even among those elusive first versions of the iPhone, since it has only 4GB of storage. When the iPhone was released, more than 15 years ago, Apple originally offered it in a 4GB or 8GB storage options. The former proved unpopular and Apple struggled to sell it, with most customers instead opting to pay $100 for the extra storage – and it was soon discontinued, just two months after the phone was first released. That means that it has become a “Holy Grail” among collectors of iPhones. Its price reflects that status: original, factory sealed models of the model with larger storage have sold for $40,000 and $63,000 in recent months. The phone came from a member of the original engineering team at Apple when the iPhone first launched, according to to LCG Auctions, which sold the device. The box has never been opened and the phone has never been activated. “Collectors and investors would be hard pressed to find a superior example,” it wrote in the listing. “Relevance and rarity comprise a winning formula for this red-hot collectible.” The company had estimated that the phone would sell for $50,000 to $100,000. In the end, it attracted 28 bids and sold for $190,372.80, LCG Auctions said on its website. The 4GB iPhone had originally sold for $599 when it went on sale at the end of June 2007. Even that eventually proved too much, and Apple dropped the price of the 8GB model to $399 when it discontinued the 4GB version. As well as its 4GB of storage, the phone offered a 12 megapixel camera and 128MB of RAM. Released around 15 years later, the current iPhone 14 Pro comes with up 1TB of storage, a 48MP camera and 6GB of RAM. Read More Apple’s next iPhone may include new battery technology, report suggests Apple launches huge new payment upgrade for iPhone You can now download the huge new iPhone update – if you dare

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Killer whales have sunk yet another boat in southwestern Europe, marking the fourth such incident in the region in the last two years. The latest attack saw a pod of orcas target a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar for about 45 minutes, Polish cruise company Morskie Mile said in a Facebook post on 31 October. The boat’s operator said the relentless attack focused on the yacht’s steering fin and caused extensive damage and leakage. “Despite attempts to bring the yacht to the port by the captain, crew and rescuers from the SAR (Search and Rescue), port tugs and the Moroccan Navy, the unit sunk near the entrance to the port of Tanger Med,” the company said, while adding that the crew was “safe, unharmed, and sound”. The attack is the latest reported case of killer whales targetting boats in Gibraltar – a phenomenon that has intrigued animal behaviour scientists. Cases of orcas harassing boats passing by in the Strait of Gibraltar, which runs between Spain and Morocco and connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, began being reported in 2020. The strange behaviour has perplexed scientists, with some theorising that the killer whales may be teaching each other to attack boats passing by in the region. Researchers have floated a number of theories to explain the behaviour of the aquatic mammals. These explanations range from food scarcity and the disruptive resumption of post-pandemic nautical activities to playful interactions. There have been documented cases of “play behaviour” among different orca populations as some killer whales in previous studies were shown to “harass” porpoises. Researchers suspect these were likely orchestrated by orcas as a form of social play to bond, communicate or simply for fun among themselves, and that the behaviour would provide benefits such as improved group coordination and teamwork. But scientists have also begun to investigate whether the Gibraltar attacks are linked to past trauma. Whatever the orcas’ motivation, such incidents have highlighted the more widespread concerns of scientists around the impact of human nautical activity on intelligent marine mammals. Read More Killer whales another boat near Gibraltar in relentless 45-minute attack Live exports of livestock to be banned under planned new law Harry and Megan accused of ‘eco-hypocrisy’ for flying to Katy Perry gig Live exports of livestock to be banned under planned new law Harry and Megan accused of ‘eco-hypocrisy’ for flying to Katy Perry gig Met Office predicts more blustery showers after Storm Ciarán flooding