I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in May 2012
Interview
Apple contacted me about an internship position after finding my resume on file. I had a phone interview scheduled where he gave me some information about the position, asked me to describe some of my previous projects, and then gave me two technical word problems. I was able to answer the questions very quickly, and was offered the position that same day after he finished interviewing other applicants.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
You have a sign hanging at the end of a straight aluminum beam with a square cross-section. You notice that there is significant deflection in the beam. What are some design modifications you can make to reduce the deflection? If you were then asked to change the beam's cross-sectional, would you increase the vertical or horizontal dimension and why?
The interview went well overall. The interviewer opened with a discussion about a project I'm proud of, then a beam scenario question that covered structural and load analysis, stress and deflection, and material selection — testing my ability to connect first-principles thinking across the full problem space.
I applied through college or university. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in Apr 2026
Interview
Interview with hiring manager then virtual onsite. They ask you general mechanical engineering questions as well as questions dependent on type of team and skills they are looking for. Not bad overall just brush up on basic beam deflection, GD&T, Design analysis etc.
They gave me a take home tolerance analysis worksheet. It was essentially a tolerance stack up for one of their products and felt fairly straight forward. Thought I answered it well but ultimately they decided to move forward with other candidates.