JK Scheinberg, who masterminded major innovation during his 21 years at company, was snubbed for in-store tech support role

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An engineer credited with changing the way in which Apple computers work was turned down for a job at one of the company’s Genius Bars.

JK Scheinberg left Apple in 2008 after 21 years, having masterminded the top secret Marklar project to run Apple’s operating system on Intel chips.

He later applied for a job in the customer support area, commonly staffed by younger people, at one of Apple’s high street stores after growing bored of retirement, according to reports in the US.

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Despite possessing vast knowledge of Apple’s technology from working on some of its most high-level projects, Scheinberg was knocked back.

Details of the surprising rejection emerged in an article about age discrimination in the New York Times. The author, Ashton Applewhite, said Scheinberg helps her with IT problems and the same support could have been offered to Apple customers.

“I’m lucky enough to get my tech support from JK Scheinberg, the engineer at Apple who led the effort that moved the Mac to Intel processors,” said Applewhite. “A little restless after retiring in 2008, at 54 he figured he’d be a great fit for a position at an Apple store Genius Bar, despite being twice as old as anyone else at the group interview.”

Applewhite said Scheinberg told her: “On the way out, all three of the interviewers singled me out and said: ‘We’ll be in touch.’ I never heard back.”

Scheinberg has since addressed the rejection on Twitter. He also tweeted a link to Applewhite’s book This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism.

JK Scheinberg (@tiltdad) Wonder if Apple will finally give me callback on that genius bar interview https://t.co/9fXt5fBFTU #ageism

Scheinberg worked out how to run Apple’s operating system on his personal PCs, powered by Intel processors, according to his wife, Kim. The company developed his findings and has since switched all its computers from PowerPC processors to Intel. Apple did not return a request for comment.