I applied online. The process took 2 days. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in Apr 2011
Interview
Started with two phone interviews about 30-40min, mostly technical in nature with a lot of logic based questions. Followed up with a request to complete a design project (mechanical design of mechanism with 2 solutions with analysis) and a powerpoint presentation and a in-person interview in Cupertino. Day one of in-person interview consisted of about six 1:1 or 2:1 interviews. Day 2 consisted of presenting design project in front of previous day interviewers. Very well organized travel arrangements and communication.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
If you and a large brick are in a boat floating in a pool, will the water level rise or fall when the brick is tossed into the water? What if the brick is a large piece of Styrofoam and thrown into the water?
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 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.