Apple software engineer interview

Levels

The rounds, in order

Pick your level above to see only your rounds. Each step links to a guide on how that round is scored.

1. 1

   Hiring manager · 30 min

   After a short recruiter call, the hiring manager often does a technical deep dive on your past projects and asks 'Why Apple?'; some teams start with this call.

   All levels

2. 2

   Phone / recruiter screen · 45 min

   One or two live coding screens, usually medium or a domain task such as a thread-safe cache; some teams use a take-home instead or as well.

   All levels

3. 3

   Coding (DSA) × 3 · 50 min

   Coding rounds focus on edge cases, defensive code and often concurrency, in the language the team uses (Swift, C++, Python, Java, Go).

   All levels

4. 4

   Low-level design / machine coding · 60 min

   Object-oriented or component design such as a contact search system or a memory-efficient image decoder, mostly for junior and mid-level roles.

   SDE 1, SDE 2

5. 5

   System design (HLD) · 60 min

   System design for mid and senior roles, often from a product angle (photo sync, push notifications); some teams now add an AI system design round.

   SDE 2, SDE 3, SDE 4

6. 6

   Team-specific round · 60 min

   A team-specific round: finding planted bugs in a large unfamiliar file, tracing a failing service, a project presentation, or SQL for data-heavy roles.

   All levels

7. 7

   Behavioral · 45 min

   Conflict, failure, decisions with limited information and caring about the user; 'Why Apple?' can come up in any round.

   All levels

8. 8

   Team match

   You interview for a specific team, so a calibration step can add weeks, and an offer still depends on headcount.

   All levels

ScreeningCodingDesignBehavioralDecision

Behavioral: Team-defined culture fit (no published list)

There is no published principles list for interviews. Interviewers look for craftsmanship, attention to detail, privacy-first product thinking, collaboration across teams and a convincing 'Why Apple?', usually in STAR-style answers.

All behavioral questions · Write your STAR stories in the story bank

Coding questions candidates report

Each links to the AlgoRung problem: write-up, animated walkthrough, solutions in Java, Python, C++ and JavaScript, and an editor with hidden tests. Shared questions show the other companies that ask them.

Apple coding questions by topic · Apple SDE 1 interview · Apple SDE 2 interview · Apple senior interview · Apple staff interview

Design questions

Junior and mid-level loops lean toward LLD and object-oriented design; system design starts around ICT3/ICT4 and goes deeper at ICT5+. Prompts often tie to Apple services (photo sync, messaging, push notifications) or the team's own infrastructure.

• Reported: Design photo sync across devices Google Drive · walkthrough Practise on the board
• Reported: Design message delivery WhatsApp · walkthrough Practise on the board
• Reported: Design a push notification service Notification system · walkthrough
• Reported: Design a ticket booking system Movie booking · walkthrough
• Reported: Design a peer-to-peer web crawler Web crawler · walkthrough

Also reported: Design an LLM agent that calls tools to finish a task

Apple system design questions in detail · How to answer any design question: the LADDER method

Worth knowing

• One of the least standardized loops in big tech: each org writes its own questions and picks round types, so there are about 4 to 8 rounds.
• The hiring manager carries the most weight in the debrief, and a single strong 'no' can end a candidacy.
• Most pipelines skip the online assessment and go from recruiter to phone screen.
• Some teams added an AI system design round in 2025–2026; standard coding rounds still expect code without AI.
• First contact to offer usually takes 4 to 8 weeks.