Apple is the world's largest tech company by market cap. A major driver of Apple’s success is its carefully assembled team of world-class engineering talent. Apple interview questions are specially designed to find and hire only the best software engineers. This is why Apple’s technical interviews are considered the hardest and the most unique among all FAANG interviews.
Infamous for its secrecy, Apple keeps its hiring and interviewing process under tight wraps, making it hard to know what type of Apple interview questions to expect at an Apple technical interview. Employees are dissuaded from revealing details about the interview process, even under total anonymity on popular review portals. This allows Apple to assess candidates on the basis of their actual skills and knowledge as opposed to candidates who try to game the interview process by preparing only on expected Apple interview questions.
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Strategic practice is the key to cracking tech interviews. In this article, we’ll list Apple interview questions and cover some important information to help you with your prep, including:
Before we look at apple interview questions, let’s first understand the Apple interview process. You can expect up to 9-12 rounds of interviews before bagging an offer. Here’s a breakdown of the Apple interview process:
There can be up to 2 phone screen rounds. It will be a 30-minute informal conversation with a recruiter, who will assess your interest in Apple and the role and how well you will fit in the team. The first call will be with an internal recruiter, but the second call might be with a team lead since all the openings at Apple are team-specific. You will be asked questions about your academic qualifications, professional achievements, and past projects.
Recommended reading: Apple Phone Interview Questions
This is a unique round that takes place in an Apple interview process. There can be up to 5 FaceTime interviews. These will be one-on-one interviews, which last roughly 30 minutes each. In this round, you will be asked Apple interview questions to assess your technical as well as behavioral skills. Few of these questions will require a lot of introspection.
The technical phone screen will be with a hiring manager or a team lead from the team you will be joining. In this interview, you will be judged on your resume and a few questions around data structure and algorithms. You will have to use a tool called Codility, a shared editor, to solve the coding questions. These take 45-60 minutes, and you will have 30 minutes to code.
Recommended reading: Apple Interview Questions to Crack the Technical Interview
After the two phone screens, you will face the on-site or virtual on-site interview. The invitation for this interview might take up to 2 weeks. Here, you will be judged on your domain knowledge and other skills like passion and patience. It can last up to 6 hours, where around 8-12 people will interview you. In some cases, the number also might go up to 15. The on-site interviews will be a combination of Apple interview questions on behavioral skills, domain knowledge, and coding.
These interviews will last up to 45-60 minutes each. You can also have two people interviewing you at the same time. So, be prepared to be cross-questioned by the second interviewer while you are still writing the code. They might also bomb you with many Apple interview questions like a rapid-fire round to judge your patience and focus. Stay calm and understand the question well before answering.
Check out The Ultimate Guide to Crack Apple’s On-site Interview for more.
Below are three of the most commonly asked Apple interview questions that you should prepare and suggested ways to answer these questions.
Objective: To uncover your knowledge of Apple’s products and devices.
In answering this Apple interview question, mention different Apple products that you use or like but zero in on a product that you like the most. Elaborate on its key features, the technology used, and product benefits. Also, mention advantages over similar competing products and what makes it such a big draw in innovation, functionality, or design.
Try to draw a connection between your interest in Apple products and your own tech skills. Highlight how you can contribute to developing products at Apple.
Objective: To uncover key behavioral skills — conflict resolution, teamwork, communication.
To answer this Apple interview question, draw on a similar situation that you faced in your past roles or describe a situation where a decision can be approached from multiple perspectives. Highlight conflict resolution skills by explaining an understanding of your manager’s stance and how you communicated an alternative data-backed approach that would result in greater benefits and help achieve goals more effectively.
Objective: To uncover key personality traits — resilience, integrity.
To answer this Apple interview question, describe a situation in which you could not fulfill expectations. Showcase self-awareness by explaining the reasons for your lapse. Explain activities you undertook to rectify the situation and how you worked at improving yourself to attain the required levels of competence. Highlight how you converted failure into a learning opportunity to achieve a positive outcome.
Apple interview questions vary as per your role, level, and expertise. Let’s take a look at the top interview questions asked for software engineers, program managers, and more.
Check out Apple Software Engineer Interview Questions for more.
Let’s look at some of the Apple interview questions on coding that assess your skillsets:
Preparing for behavioral or situational Apple interview questions should be a significant part of your interview prep. Let’s take a look at some of these questions:
Other Tricky Questions that can be asked at an Apple Interview:
Apple is a dream company for many tech aspirants throughout the world. That dream can only be achieved by nailing their hardest ever interviews. You could prepare answers to all the Apple interview questions covered here and more but still may not be able to make it. This is because, more than the answer to the question, Apple looks at how you answer. One of the core principles of Apple is to hire attitude and train for skills.
Here are some tips you can use to answer the Apple interview questions and get your dream job:
Read How to Get a Software Engineer Job at Apple for more.
Q1. How long does the software engineer interview process take at Apple?
Typically, Apple’s software engineering interview process lasts for a month or two. Apple interview questions vary at every stage. Initial rounds feature basic coding questions, while the main coding interviews focus on the depth of skills.
Q2. What are Apple recruiters looking for in a candidate?
Apple interview questions are designed to focus on a candidate’s attitude and approach to work in addition to depth of skills. Apple looks for candidates with the ability to learn quickly and apply new concepts on the job.
Q3. What are the top Apple interview questions asked at Apple’s technical interview?
Apple interview questions will center around fundamental computer science concepts and key behavioral skills during the technical interview. You can expect questions on Apple devices and conflict resolution.
Q4. What are some common Apple interview questions on coding?
You can expect Apple coding interview questions on algorithms and data structures, arrays, dynamic programming, graphs, linked lists, search, sort, strings, trees, and other such fundamental coding concepts.
Q5. Is it difficult to get hired by Apple?
Apple’s hiring process is very competitive and exacting. However, with the right interview preparation, focusing on technical expertise and behavioral skills, you can answer even the toughest Apple interview questions effectively to land a job at the tech giant.
If you’re looking for guidance and help with getting started, sign up for our FREE webinar. As pioneers in the field of technical interview preparation, we have trained thousands of software engineers to crack the toughest coding interviews and land jobs at their dream companies, such as Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and more!