Steve Jobs’ 8th-Grade Science Project Sells for the Price of a Car
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Earlier this month, we saw that Steve Jobs’ childhood science project was on the auction block, and now it seems it has a final price on it: $34,375.
That’s the final bid on Lot 4006 in the Steve Jobs & the Computer Revolution: The Apple 50th Anniversary Auction that was recently held by RR Auction. The item itself was specifically Steve Jobs’ hand-built eighth-grade science fair project explaining silicon-controlled rectifiers.
The project consisted of a display built from plywood with a display board titled “What is the SCR?” and a ten-page report, plus two test circuits designed to “demonstrate the basic principals and characteristics of the silicon-controlled rectifier” and “demonstrate how the silicon-controlled rectifier is used in its most widely accepted application; motor speed control, light dimming, etc.”
There’s no word on what grade Apple’s legendary co-founder received on the project, but we can only imagine Mrs. Yakel — the teacher at Cupertino Junior High whose name is on the project — likely never expected it to fetch the price of a car.
However well it did at the science fair, it was ultimately submitted to RR Auction from the personal collection of Steve Jobs’ step-brother, John Chovanec, whose mother, Marilyn, married Paul Jobs in 1990. Steve served as best man at their wedding, and his stepmother continued to live in the house after Jobs’ father died in 1993. Steve Jobs reportedly declined to reclaim his personal items, leaving them with John and his mother in the old homestead, and eventually going with John, who “carefully preserved the project” for years.
Other items on the auction block included Lot 4009: an Apple II computer, complete with accessories and software that Steve Jobs gave to his father Paul, which went for $12,079 — $5,000 above its estimated sale price.
Surprisingly, a Steve Jobs business card from his days at NeXT (Lot 4004) sold for more than three times as much as the Apple II, fetching $39,726. However, what made that special was that it wasn’t just any business card; it included a handwritten note on the front reading “Hi Dad — just stopped by to say hi. Steve.” This kind of memorabilia is always more significant, and RR Auction had estimated it would go for at least $25,000.
The real star of the auction, though, was Lot 4040: A ‘Neumark’ Apple-1 Computer in a unique Smith-Corona Typewriter case, which went for a staggering $499,363, after being expected to come in at only around $300,000. Key to the value is that this was actually restored to full operational condition in June 2026 by an Apple-1 expert named Corey Cohen, so it’s more than merely a museum piece.
Well-preserved and fully functional ‘Byte Shop’–style Apple-1 computer (also commonly known as the Apple I, or Apple Computer 1), complete with all components and accessories required for operation, housed in a unique Smith-Corona typewriter case modified to fit the Apple-1.
Also, while the NeXT business card to Jobs’ dad didn’t do too badly, it was eclipsed by an Apple business card signed by Steve Jobs (Lot 4023), which sold for $156,658 — more than double its expected auction price of $60,000. The fact that it was perfectly graded as being in virtually flawless, pristine condition (GEM MT 10) undoubtedly helped drive up its selling price.
The third top seller on the Apple-specific front was an Apple P68 ‘Stealth iPod’ prototype from the original iPod team program manager (Lot 4077), which went for $91,479. It’s such an early prototype that it looks nothing like what became the actual iPod, as this was the stage when Apple was still figuring out how the concept was going to work.
