The Apple Coding Interview

Apple has always prioritized developers tuned toward innovation, a future where the possibilities are limitless and achievable. Here, you will find out what it takes to stand out during the Apple coding interview.

You will have to pass several stages, and having basic technical knowledge will not be enough—you have to be an expert.

Here’s what you need to prepare for:

Apple interview structure

GitHub looks for candidates who fit well with its remote work environment, so its requirements may slightly differ from those of other companies. However, the need for innovative tech professionals who have the potential to push boundaries remains a focus.

Once you’ve sent in your resume, you will get a recruiter knocking on your phone, and this call will last around half an hour. You will be asked basic questions about your work history, and the experience you have so far.

Ask the recruiter questions about what to expect for the coding interview and the team you will be interviewed by—no one knows better than them.
Find out how long the interview process will take for the specific role you are applying for and ways you can stand out.

Before you’re faced with the usual Apple coding interview questions, the recruiter may hand you a take-home assessment, which you will have to hand in before a set deadline.

Assessments: The task may be used to evaluate your skills and reviewed in future interview stages. You can be tested in numerous areas, such as coding languages.
Coding rounds: You must solve real-time problems while sharing your screen. These problems will range from easy to hard and focus on data structures, algorithms, and optimization.

If you pass the technical evaluation, you will be set up for one or two virtual interviews. A virtual Apple coding interview can be dubbed a skill assessment, but it goes deeper into your knowledge base.

Here are a couple of factors to keep in mind:

Be prepared for open-ended questions revolving around your performance in previous roles, what kind of projects you saw through, how you lead innovation, and generally about your accomplishments.
Research exactly what the role you are applying for requires and what Apple is expecting of you as a candidate. Only highlight experiences and skills that are relevant to your role.
An Apple interview may involve coding and other domain-specific questions, such as how you handle building scalable systems or design thinking and user experience into your workflow.

At this stage, they will either call you for an onsite panel interview loop session or may conduct it online.

So, what is a panel interview for Apple supposed to look like?

Expect 3 to 8 interview rounds lasting 45 minutes to an hour each. You will be there for at least 5 hours, or the entire process could be split across more than one day.
Be prepared to face a panel of engineers, managers, and cross-functional team members, such as product managers or designers.
Most interview rounds may be technical—your in-depth knowledge of algorithms, data structures, code debugging, System Design, and Apple’s ecosystem will be evaluated.
Behavioral questions will come up:
- Structure your answers using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method.
- Outline how you have effectively collaborated and communicated with teams in previous roles and what results and impact that brought.
- Show problem ownership. Apple is looking for candidates who can tackle problems until a resolution is found. This means being self-motivated, curious, and disciplined in executing your tasks.

After all’s said and done, remember that feedback plays a critical role during and after an Apple coding interview.

Remember that Apple’s work culture values cross-functional collaboration. During the interview, how you respond to feedback will reflect your ability to absorb ideas from diverse perspectives and work well in a team setting.
After the interview, your performance will be evaluated based on multiple areas, such as technical and problem-solving skills, communication, and behavioral aspects.
Candidates who showcase the ability to take feedback in stride will have a leg up in the Apple interview. You must demonstrate that you see challenges as opportunities for growth, not obstacles.

Apple’s product-centric mindset

Apple operates on a design-first philosophy that prioritizes user experience above all else. Its innovation rests on creating functional, transformative, and simple products.

For developers, this means thinking about the end user experience

User-focused development

How does your work impact the customer? When developing systems, are you prioritizing usability, accessibility, and performance?

Simplicity

Practice until you can write clean, maintainable code that aligns with Apple’s design principles.

Innovative thinking

Push the boundaries of your creativity and construct solutions to complex problems that ultimately go beyond the limits of what technology can do.