Apple Software Engineer Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated Jan 25, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 44 ratings 
“Average” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 44 ratings
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| 1–10 of 44 Apple Interviews | Sort by |
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Jan 25, 2012 — 1 of 2 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2012 in Cupertino, CA (took 4+ weeks)
I did an initial phone interview where we discussed general technology, I presume this was to make certain they weren't wasting their time. They then followed up with on-site interviews for which I was flown out and put up in a very nice hotel. The interviews lasted from 9am-3pm in 45 minute increments, each with a different person. Each person was different, some wanted me to do specific programming problems others just wanted to talk about my experience. Overall the stress level wasn't too high, and I wasn't asked to do anything overly complex.
Interview Questions
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Negotiation Details
I was blown away by the offer, and did not negotiate. I often wonder if I could of gotten more, but I am happy with my initial offer.
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Jan 17, 2012 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2010 (took 1+ week)
It was good.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Jan 6, 2012 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2012 (took a day)
I applied for the position online after seeing an opening for an intern on the Apple website. I was contacted via email for an interview after about a month.
The interviewer called at the time he said he would, was very punctual in fact. The interview consisted of a series of questions to gauge your experience in programming. Some questions involving heap, stack, how you use stack in your programs, when did you use it etc. He then moved on to O.S questions. He asked about some O.S-specific questions, which were, presumably, common topics for the course. But I haven't taken the course, so I failed to answer any of them. He was very friendly though, and encouraged me to guess and try to deduce what it is.
Seems like they are looking for people who can think on their feet, and have had some experience outside the classroom. I think it'll be fine if you can try to get your way out of the questions by talking to him, and letting him know what you're thinking. I was too nervous and could hardly think straight.
Tips: Study your basic data structures and algorithm. And memorize and really understand the crucial terminologies of computer science. Most importantly, learn to think your way out of problems like a true computer scientist! Hope this helped :)
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Dec 11, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jul 2011 in Cupertino, CA (took 3 days)
HR/Manager interview went well, in person. Had phone technical interview where guy was asking obscure database terminology about implementations done 5 years ago.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Nov 7, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2011 in Cupertino, CA (took 1 week)
Phone interviews were standard fare: programming puzzles, algorithms, etc -- nothing out of the ordinary. The onsite interview was a much different story. Everyone was fairly rude and condescending. The general sentiment was: "Apple embodies greatness. You should be very happy that we've deigned to grant you a small part of our time."
Interview Questions
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Nov 3, 2011 — 0 of 2 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2011 in Cupertino, CA (took 2 days)
I was phone interviewed by two different groups. The questions are very general and not difficult, but their recruiters suck. They never replied your email and telling you the results. Also the engineers are arrogant and they do not respect others.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Oct 15, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2011 in Cupertino, CA (took 2 days)
They give tow rounds of phone interview. First round is with the manager and the second round is with an engineer in the team. The question is algorithmic in nature. The interview process is also friendly. The people in the company are smart and they generally work hard. The company culture is also nice and encourages good ideas on products.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
No negotiation
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Oct 28, 2011 — 0 of 5 people found this helpful
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Jun 2009 in Cupertino, CA (took 3 days)
Please be as detailed as possible - everything from your initial communications with the company, organization and planning of the interview, number and type of interviews, and any advice you might offer to other interview candidates. Bonus points for your perceptions of the people, office, and work culture.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Oct 1, 2011 — 2 of 3 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Aug 2011 in Cupertino, CA (took a day)
Original questions, not the usual off-the-shelf stuff. One interviewer even acknowledged that it made no sense for me to remember every obscure detail of a data structure, he was happy with me recognizing what the correct data structure for the task at hand was and explaining why
Lots of problem solving: "we have this issue how would you tackle it?" questions, and the discussion was along the lines "I would do this" - "Do you know the performance implications? Complexity in time and space". I believe this was good: the interviewer was focusing on my skills as a programmer/designer of my own code rather than a walking algorithm reference book
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
I was given more than I hoped for and wanted. I simply said "yes".
Do not expect wide margins for negotiation anyway. Company culture acknowledges working at Apple as a privilege in itself.
Other Details
I applied In-Person and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Software Engineer at Apple
Posted Sep 29, 2011
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Jan 2011 in Cupertino, CA (took 4 weeks)
I responded to a job offer on the Apple website posting a resume and a short cover letter.
2/3 days after a recruiter from Apple contacted me via email telling me my profile was interesting.
He mailed me a coding exercise I had to do for the week after. I had to implement a small C program from precise instructions. The test involved slightly complicated algorithms and easy data structures handling.
About 1 week after I completed the test I had two similar phone interview with engineers that lasted under 45 minutes each. We talked about my previous work experiences, how work at Apple is and I was asked several technical question mostly about algorithms.
A few days after the recruiter told me I was to come to Cupertino (from France, where I live) to have a full day of on site interviews. The timeline for my recruitment was tight because of Visa deadline, so the interviews had to take place quickly. They finally told me the timeframe was to short to organize on site interviews so we did them through iChat instead. With the time difference the interview took place during the night for me.
I talked with 6 or 7 different engineers from the team the position was a part of among them was my 2 previous interviewers. Each interview was very technical with subject ranging from data structures to graph theory, computationnal geometry and spatial reasonning. I code stuffs and draw schematics on shared documents. Needless to say, with the last interview ending at 3am, I was really tired ! I was quite bad during this session. A few hours after I got a mail telling me I wasn't selected.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Skills Test and a Background Check.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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