Jony Ive’s Mac Pro, Leica M camera, desk fetch millions for charity

How much do people love Jony Ive’s designs?

So much so that an aluminum desk co-designed by Apple’s chief designer was auctioned off for $1.7 million.

Ive teamed up with fellow famed-designer Marc Newson to create special items for an auction to benefit Product (RED), a charity started by musician Bono. The purpose of Product (RED) is to fight AIDS.

Besides the aluminum desk, specially created headliners included an all-red Mac Pro and a special edition Leica M digital camera.

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The Mac Pro is a special version of the new, upcoming Apple computer. The desktop was expected to fetch somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000, but it sold for a whopping $977,000.

Also auctioned off was a Leica M camera, which was sold for more than $1.8 million. That makes the (RED) Leica M “the most expensive new digital camera the world has ever seen,” according to Leica.

That’s a lot of money for the high-tech devices, but the most expensive item sold was actually quite old-fashioned. A Steinway & Sons parlor grand piano was sold at auction for $1.925 million.

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