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.
Difficult interview
Application
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Apple
Interview
I interviewed specifically for the Haptics team.
Overall, there were three rounds. The first was a basic get to know the manager with some simple technical questions. The second round was a technical screen where a senior member of the team dug into various items on my resume. The third and final round was an all-day virtual interview with 7 people, including 2 direct managers and a program manager.
Overall, the people were kind and easy to get along with. The recruiter was very responsive throughout the process. I enjoyed the process and meeting with the team.
A few of the team members were receptive to putting X-factor type things on the resume i.e. something that makes you stand out from the crowd. I think that's what got me an interview in the first place.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Q1: Brainstorm ways to get a balloons down from the ceiling or out of the house. They are looking for both creative and physics based methods. You should be able to name 15-20. Other similar brainstorm questions were asked.
Q2: Explain how Apple's haptic devices work. For other teams, I'd imagine you will get a similar "reverse-engineer this device" question based on their specific technology.
Q3: Explain design considerations for integrating haptic engines into a cell phone. For example, what material would you choose?
Q4: Lots of questions centered around spring design and vibrational dynamics. This topic covered 80% of the interviews for the team I interviewed with.
Q5: Teach the interviewer about one topic that you are an expert in. Be ready to answer technical follow-up questions. You should demonstrate passion and a willingness to dive deep into the fine details of physics.
Surprisingly few questions on electromagnetics even though Apple's haptic engines are based on electromagnetics.
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.