Ternus Reshapes Apple as Gurman Rates Meta's $1299 VR Headset Above Vision Pro

John Ternus's first month at the helm of Apple gave Bloomberg's editors enough material for a dedicated discussion: a push toward a smaller, faster company, hands-on control of design, and hints of further layoffs. Meanwhile, Mark Gurman tested Meta's $1299 VR headset and declared it the device Vision Pro should have been from the start. He discussed both stories with Bloomberg technology editor Vlad Savov in an episode of the Power On podcast.

A caveat: this is a summary of a discussion, not a full report. The episode description includes no technical specifications for the Meta headset and says nothing about the scale of possible layoffs at Apple.

Ternus: fewer layers, more design

According to Gurman and Savov, Ternus's main task at the start is to make Apple lighter and faster. For a company of Apple's size, that means reworking its structure, and the hosts say outright that new layoffs are possible. They give no specific numbers, so it is too early to treat the matter as settled.

The second thread is design. Ternus, who spent many years in charge of hardware engineering, is unusually closely involved with the design team, the authors say. He is putting designers back at the center of a process in which a product starts from form and user experience, not from supplier spreadsheets. For Apple, this is a telling shift in priorities: under the previous leadership model, that level of involvement from the top executive was discussed less often.

Tim Cook, meanwhile, has not gone anywhere. As executive chairman, he remains the company's face on the world stage: meetings with regulators, politicians and partners are still his. Ternus takes over day-to-day operations and the product side.

Meta versus Vision Pro

The second half of the episode is devoted to Meta's new VR headset. Gurman tried it himself and delivered a harsh verdict: this is exactly what Vision Pro should have been. The headset costs $1299. For comparison, Vision Pro launched in the US in 2024 at $3499, almost 2.7 times as much.

The comparison matters. Apple bet on "spatial computing" and a premium headset, but Vision Pro did not become a mass-market device. If Meta has managed to build a simpler, more affordable product, Ternus now has a concrete benchmark for Apple's next step in this category. What that step will be, the podcast does not say.

What we know from the episode

• John Ternus has been running Apple for about a month.
• Goals: a "leaner," faster company; further layoffs are possible.
• Ternus is personally overseeing design.
• Tim Cook is executive chairman and Apple's public face.
• Meta's headset costs $1299; Vision Pro launched at $3499.
• Gurman's conclusion after hands-on testing: Meta's headset is what Vision Pro should have been.

What to watch next

For investors and industry insiders, the key indicator is official statements from Apple about its structure and layoffs. For now, everything rests on Bloomberg's assessments. Developers of visual and spatial apps should watch how Apple responds to Meta's headset, whether with price, form factor or a change of strategy around Vision. Buyers would be wise to wait for independent reviews and detailed specifications of the Meta headset. One reviewer's opinion, however experienced, is no substitute for comparative testing.