I was first contacted by a junior recruiter at Apple via LinkedIn. A few days later, we arranged a phone interview, which consisted of simple background questions. I followed up the next day with a "Thank You" email, expressing my excitement for the opportunity (who wouldn't want to work for Apple... says the guy from small town Wisconsin). My recruiter indicated that she had passed my resume on to the senior recruiter. Three weeks later, I was informed by the senior recruiter that the hiring manager would like to conduct a 30 minute phone screen. The phone screen with the hiring manager was off to a rocky start because they did not have my correct phone number (...long story). However, once we got in touch, things went smoothly. After brief introductions (about 1 minute), we dove into technical questions. These questions included stresses in a simply supported beam, manufacturing processes used to remove material from a metal work piece (know at least 6...), and at a very high level explain how a printed circuit board works (board material, layers, traces, basic components, connectors). There were also additional ad lib questions that popped up through conversation, such as what material property is responsible for the stiffness of a given metal. At the end of the phone interview, the hiring manager explained that the next step in the interview process was to complete a design project. The next day, I received the prompt and had roughly 2 weeks to complete the assignment. The prompt, dated from 2008, was to design a battery door mechanism, which would include a door, release button, and door latching features to house 2 AA batteries in a standard Apple iPod. The door was to open or actuate with a single force from the user, normal to the plane of the door. The assignment asked for two separate battery door mechanism designs or ideas. Each design required a bill of materials, which listed the description, material, and cost estimate for each part, 2D and 3D CAD files where appropriate, a list of any assumptions, and any analysis (do some FEA!!) conducted. I presented my two designs by submitting a PowerPoint (about 12 total slides). My presentation, above all, told a story... 1) Establish the design requirements 2) Ideation and brainstorming (I came up with about 8 sketch ideas) 3) Engineering decision matrix (showed which were my top 2 ideas) 4) Explained design #1 and any analysis 5) Explained design #2 and any analysis 6) In the end, which design came out on top. The following week and half was filled with emails back and forth between myself and the hiring manager, who asked me to clarify parts of my presentation. For example, "On slide #5, you stated that you neglected friction, please include friction in your calculation and redo your analysis." About two weeks after I first submitted my Apple design project, the senior recruiter informed me that the hiring manager would like to bring me onsite for an in-person interview. About 3 weeks later, I traveled to beautiful Cupertino, CA for an onsite interview. I arrived on Monday at 9:00 AM and was greeted by the hiring manager around 9:15 or 9:30 AM (tardiness seemed to be a common theme of the day). I met with 2 engineering managers (one being the hiring manager) in the morning, ate lunch with 3 current Product Design Engineers (my potential peers/co-workers) from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, and met with 5 other engineering managers in the afternoon. Keep in mind, that your lunch time is also an interview! Each interview with the engineering managers lasted about 30 minutes, and about 25 of the 30 minutes were technical in nature. Again, I got to Apple at 9:00 AM, and I left at 5:30 PM. I ate lunch for 1 hour and had 7 half hour interviews (3.5 total hours). That means I spent 4 hours doing nothing but waiting for the next interviewer and thumbing my iPhone 4S in the 10 foot by 10 foot interview room. After an exhausting first day, I was invited back for the second day, in which I presented my Apple Design Project to the group of engineers and engineering managers who I had interviewed with the day before. The presentation last exactly 1 hour and most of my time was spent at the white board fielding different questions about my design. Again, similar to prior interviews with this group, the focus was on free body diagrams, force and moment calculations, material properties, and manufacturing processes. I followed up with the appropriate "Thank You's" in the days following. After two weeks, I still had not heard anything, so I reached out to my senior recruiter, who informed me that I did not get an offer. I believe my short-comings were the one-on-one 30 minute technical interview questions (see below), and I am not sure I convinced the interviewers that I was fit for the Apple culture.

i had my interview today and was asked the same question. also similarly, the interviewer had no sense of humor. it was not a enjoyable experience because i think i gave like 3-4 different ways of making a cantilever, but i was asked "what else?" like 10 times for the cantilever problem alone. i also have 7 years of work experience, but there was 0 question asked about it.