Landing a job at Apple isn’t just about passing an interview—it’s about proving you have the innovation, problem-solving skills, and technical expertise to thrive in one of the world’s most influential tech companies. Apple values creativity and attention to detail while encouraging the ability to think differently. So, how do you prepare? This blog breaks down the key areas Apple interviews focus on: technical questions, System Design, and behavioral interviews—along with resources to help you sharpen your skills.
Apple coding interview questions
Apple’s technical interviews assess your grasp of computer science fundamentals, coding efficiency, and problem-solving strategies. In these rounds, you can expect algorithmic challenges and data structure problems emphasizing performance and optimization. Preparing effectively involves practicing a wide range of coding questions and recognizing the patterns used to solve them. A great way to build this skill is by studying structured problem-solving approaches, such as those covered in the Grokking the Coding Interview Patterns course.
Let’s look at some sample questions you might encounter.
1. Number of Flowers in Full Bloom
Problem statement: Given an array of integers, nums, and an integer target, return the indexes of any two numbers such that they add up to target.
Solution: We use a hash map (dictionary) to store numbers and their indexes as we iterate through the array. For each number num at index i, we calculate its complement, which is target - num.
- If the complement already exists in the hash map, we return the index of the complement and the current index
i. - Otherwise, we store
numand its index in the hash map and continue iterating.
Two Sum
- We iterate through the list while maintaining a hash map (
num_map) that stores each number and index. - For each number
num, we compute its complement astarget - num. - If the complement is found in the hash map, we return its stored index and the current index i.
- Otherwise, we store
numand its index in the hash map and continue checking.
Time complexity: The time complexity is , as we traverse the array once and perform constant-time lookups in the hash map.
Space complexity: The space complexity is , as we may store up to n elements in the hash map.
2. Top K Frequent Elements
Problem statement: Given an integer array nums and an integer k, return the k most frequent elements.
Solution: Maintain a frequency dictionary while iterating through nums. Then, use a heap to extract the k most frequent elements.
Top K Frequent Elements
- Iterate through
nums, storing each number as a key and its count as the value infreq_map. - If the number is already in
freq_map, increment its count; otherwise, initialize it to 1. heapq.nlargest(k, freq_map.keys(), key=freq_map.get)selectskelements with the highest frequency by sorting based on values in freq_map.
Time complexity: The time complexity is
,
as constructing freq_map takes
and extracting the top
k
elements using a heap takes
.
Space complexity: The space complexity for storing frequency counts is .
3. Rotate Array
Problem statement: Given an integer array nums, rotate the array to the right by k steps.
Solution: Reverse the entire array, then reverse the first k elements and the remaining elements separately.
Rotate Array
Code explanation:
- First, calculate
k % nto handle cases wherekis greater than the array length. - Reverse the entire array, which moves the last
kelements to the front but in reverse order. - Reverse the first
kelements to restore their original order. - Reverse the remaining elements to put them back in the correct order.
- The final result is the array rotated to the right by
ksteps in place.
Time complexity: The time complexity is , as each reversal operation runs in .
Space complexity: The space complexity is , as it modifies the array in place, so no extra space is required.
More Apple coding interview questions
- The median of two sorted arrays: Given two sorted arrays,
nums1andnums2, of sizemandn, respectively, return the median of the two sorted arrays with the overall runtime complexity ofO(log (m+n)). - Binary tree level order traversal: Given the
rootof a binary tree, return the level order traversal of its nodes’ values. (i.e., from left to right, level by level). - Find all anagrams in a string: Given two strings,
sandp, return an array of all the start indexes of’s anagrams ins. You may return the answer in any order. - Merge intervals: Given an array of
intervalswhereintervals[i] = [starti, endi], merge all overlapping intervals and return an array of the non-overlapping intervals that cover all the intervals in the input. - Integer to English words: Convert a non-negative integer
numto its English word representation.
System Design interview questions at Apple
Apple’s System Design interviews assess your ability to design scalable, efficient, and reliable systems. You must demonstrate a strong understanding of architecture, trade-offs, and best practices while designing real-world systems. These interviews become more manageable when you are familiar with common System Design principles and practice building distributed architectures. The Grokking the Modern System Design Interview course is a great resource for developing this expertise.
1. Design an API rate limiter
Problem statement: Build a system that limits the number of requests a user can make in a given period.
Key features:
- Prevent abuse by limiting requests based on time windows (e.g., 100 requests per minute).
- Provide immediate feedback when limits are exceeded.
- Optional: Different limits for user tiers (e.g., free vs. premium users).
Design highlights:
- Use algorithms like token bucket or leaky bucket.
- Store counters in a distributed cache (e.g., Redis).
- Distribute rate-limiting state across multiple servers using a shared cache like Redis.
2. Design a URL shortener
Problem statement: Create a system that converts long URLs into short, unique URLs and supports redirection.
Key features:
- Generate unique short URLs.
- Handle duplicate URLs efficiently.
- Provide quick redirection to the original URL.
Design highlights:
- Use Base62 encoding for short URLs.
- Store mappings in a distributed database.
- Implement caching (Redis) for faster lookups.
3. Design a video streaming service
Problem statement: Build a platform that allows users to stream videos efficiently.
Key features:
- Handle high concurrent traffic.
- Provide smooth playback with adaptive bitrate streaming.
- Optimize video storage and distribution.
Design highlights:
- Use a content delivery network (CDN) for faster streaming.
- Implement adaptive bitrate streaming to optimize playback.
- Store video metadata in a distributed database.
Additional system design questions
Here are some additional System Design questions that assess your ability to architect scalable and efficient systems:
- Design a messaging system like iMessage: Create a real-time messaging platform that supports text, media, encryption, and synchronization across devices.
- Design an online book reader system: Build a system that allows users to browse, purchase, and read digital books with features like bookmarking and annotations.
- Design a cloud storage service: Develop a distributed storage solution for securely uploading, retrieving, and sharing files at scale.
- Design an authentication system: Implement a secure user authentication service with features like multi-factor authentication and OAuth support.
- Design a distributed caching system: Create a high-performance caching layer to reduce database load and speed up data retrieval in a distributed environment.
Behavioral interview questions
Behavioral interview questions at Apple are designed to assess how you handle real-world situations and challenges in the workplace. These questions focus on your ability to collaborate, manage uncertainty, and meet expectations under pressure. A great way to structure your responses is by using the STAR method. The approach helps candidates provide clear, concise, and impactful answers by outlining the context of the challenge (situation), the specific role (task), the steps taken (action), and the outcome (result). Below are some sample questions to help you practice and refine your answers.
Handling disagreements with a teammate
Question: Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate.
STAR answer:
- Situation: Disagreed on a feature implementation approach.
- Task: Find a solution that balances performance and maintainability.
- Action: Had a technical discussion, provided data-driven arguments, and reached a compromise.
- Result: Successfully delivered a scalable and efficient solution.
Making tough decisions with limited data
Question: Describe a situation where you had to make a tough decision with limited data.
STAR answer:
- Situation: A production bug surfaced with incomplete logs.
- Task: Decide whether to roll back or fix forward.
- Action: Analyzed available metrics and made a risk-based decision.
- Result: Implemented a temporary fix, preventing downtime while resolving the issue.
Taking ownership of a challenging project
Question: Give an example of when you took ownership of a challenging project.
STAR answer:
- Situation: Took over a delayed project with unclear scope.
- Task: Align stakeholders and establish clear deliverables.
- Action: Created a roadmap, delegated tasks, and ensured smooth execution.
- Result: Delivered the project on time with positive feedback from leadership.
Additional behavioral questions
Here are some additional behavioral questions that evaluate your problem-solving, adaptability, and teamwork skills:
- Meeting a tight deadline: Describe how you managed time, prioritized tasks, and handled pressure.
- Demonstrating customer obsession: Share an instance where you went above and beyond for a customer.
- Handling failure with resilience: Explain a setback, how you recovered, and what you learned.
- Adapting to change: Talk about a major shift in your role and how you successfully adjusted.
- Mentoring a colleague: Describe how you guided and supported a teammate’s growth.
Refine your skills with AI-powered mock interviews
Try practicing with an AI-powered mock interview platform like Educative to enhance your preparation. These interviews simulate real interview scenarios, offering instant feedback to help you fine-tune your responses to technical and behavioral questions. With personalized insights, you can refine your performance and build confidence before the actual interview.
What’s next?
Succeeding in Apple’s interviews requires more than just coding practice. You need a strategic approach—mastering fundamental problem-solving techniques, understanding System Design principles, and articulating strong behavioral responses. By refining your approach, you can significantly improve your chances of success.
- To level up your preparation, consider the following valuable resources:
Company Interview Questions
