Palmer Luckey's 'congratulations message' to Apple's new CEO John Ternus has this more than 25-year-old photo that says ...
As Apple is gearing up for its leadership transition, incoming CEO John Ternus recently received an unusual congratulations message from Oculus founder Palmer Luckey who shared a throwback to Ternus early engineering days in virtual reality . Luckey shared a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) in which he shared a photo of the V8 head mount display built by Virtual Research in the late 1990s, noting that Ternus may have been the lead mechanical engineer on the device. “John Ternus, the new CEO of Apple, has been with the company for 25 years. His only non-Apple job was four years in the late 90s at Virtual Research, a tiny Virtual Reality HMD outfit. From what I can tell, he was the lead mechanical engineer on the V8 I obtained when I was 16!” wrote Luckey.
The headset, released around 1998, was considered advanced for its time, offering a wide field of vision and relatively lightweight design. It was primarily sold to military flight simulators for about $50,000, according to Luckey.
John Ternus’ early career and rise within Apple
John Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as part of the product design team and became a vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013. He brought with him a strong background in mechanical engineering. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and started his career at Virtual Research Systems, where he worked on advanced virtual reality technologies.
Throughout his tenure at Apple, Ternus has overseen hardware engineering work on a variety of groundbreaking products across every category. He was instrumental in the introduction of multiple new product lines, including iPad and AirPods, as well as many generations of products across iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. Ternus’s work on Mac has helped the category become more powerful and more popular globally than at any time in its 40-year history. That includes the recent introduction of MacBook Neo, an all-new laptop that makes the Mac experience even more accessible to more people around the world.
This past fall, his team’s efforts were on full display with the introduction of a redefined iPhone lineup, including the incredibly powerful iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the radically thin and durable iPhone Air, and the iPhone 17, which has been an incredible upgrade for users.
Apple’s VR Journey
Apple entered the high-tech headset market in 2024 with the Vision Pro, priced at $3,500. Despite lukewarm consumer response and criticism over its lack of a “killer app,” executives including Cook and Ternus remain optimistic. “Vision Pro is an extraordinary product. It’s like we reached into the future and pulled it into the present,” Ternus said in a recent interview.
The headset, released around 1998, was considered advanced for its time, offering a wide field of vision and relatively lightweight design. It was primarily sold to military flight simulators for about $50,000, according to Luckey.
John Ternus’ early career and rise within Apple
John Ternus joined Apple in 2001 as part of the product design team and became a vice president of Hardware Engineering in 2013. He brought with him a strong background in mechanical engineering. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and started his career at Virtual Research Systems, where he worked on advanced virtual reality technologies.
Throughout his tenure at Apple, Ternus has overseen hardware engineering work on a variety of groundbreaking products across every category. He was instrumental in the introduction of multiple new product lines, including iPad and AirPods, as well as many generations of products across iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch. Ternus’s work on Mac has helped the category become more powerful and more popular globally than at any time in its 40-year history. That includes the recent introduction of MacBook Neo, an all-new laptop that makes the Mac experience even more accessible to more people around the world.
This past fall, his team’s efforts were on full display with the introduction of a redefined iPhone lineup, including the incredibly powerful iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, the radically thin and durable iPhone Air, and the iPhone 17, which has been an incredible upgrade for users.
Apple’s VR Journey
Apple entered the high-tech headset market in 2024 with the Vision Pro, priced at $3,500. Despite lukewarm consumer response and criticism over its lack of a “killer app,” executives including Cook and Ternus remain optimistic. “Vision Pro is an extraordinary product. It’s like we reached into the future and pulled it into the present,” Ternus said in a recent interview.
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