I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Apple in Sep 2016
Interview
15 minute interview with recruiter, followed by a 30 minute interview with hiring manger.
They then gave me a 'design challenge', that they wanted me to complete in one week. I submitted a detailed design report, and received feedback that I should create a presentation. Upon creating the presentation, I was told that I didn't do well on the design challenge. I was given specific feedback on the design challenge (which areas I should give details for in my design). Surprisingly, ALL of those highlighted things were in my report!
I don't think the hiring manager even read my report, because if they did, they would find that all of their highlighted areas were mentioned.
I felt extremely demotivated, I felt that Apple did not really care for their employees. I felt they were super unprofessional as well, not even reading my submission fully.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How to reduce beam deflection. How to bond metal with plastic.
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.