Big tech · Cupertino, California

Apple.

iPhone, Mac and Watch software plus services such as iCloud, Apple Music, Apple Pay, the App Store and Apple News.

its questions lean on

team-specific design problems
device data pipelines
concurrency
API design
reliability

The rounds, as candidates describe them

DSAA coding round.source ↗
Systems designOften built around the candidate's past project or a problem the team owns rather than a classic question.source ↗
Hiring manager and leadershipA hiring manager round and a leadership round.source ↗

Reported by candidates

From public interview write-ups; each links its source.

Design a URL ShortenerSystem design
IP-01 · Design a URL Shortener →W01 · BOSS · Design a URL Shortener at Scale →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple ICT3, offer (2021) ↗
Design a Real-Time LeaderboardSystem design
IP-14 · Design a Real-Time Leaderboard →W01 · DAY 04 · Hot Keys and Skew →reported in:GeeksforGeeks · Apple interview experience, regional game leaderboard (2024) ↗
Design a News AppSystem design
IP-07 · Design a News Feed →W04 · DAY 04 · Feed Caching →W04 · DAY 05 · Multi-Tier Caching →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple ICT3 Austin, offer (2022) ↗
Design an IoT Sensor Data PlatformSystem design
W08 · DAY 01 · Event Ingestion at Scale →IP-15 · Design a Metrics Monitoring and Alerting System →W03 · DAY 03 · Backpressure and Flow Control →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple ICT4 US, pipeline for signals from devices worldwide (2020) ↗
Design a Logging SystemSystem design
W08 · DAY 01 · Event Ingestion at Scale →W08 · DAY 05 · Query Layer and Optimization →W10 · DAY 02 · Observability →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple ICT4 US, self-service log combining for other teams (2020) ↗
Design an Offline-Capable Payment SystemSystem design
IP-20 · Design a Payment System →W05 · DAY 04 · Conflict Resolution →W09 · DAY 05 · Security Architecture →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple Senior SWE (ICT3), offer accepted (2024) ↗
Design a Distributed Message QueueSystem design
IP-18 · Design a Distributed Message Queue →W03 · DAY 01 · Queue vs Stream →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple ICT3, redesign a messaging service's broker (2021) ↗
Design a Point-of-Sale SystemSystem design
W02 · DAY 02 · Idempotency in Practice →W05 · DAY 04 · Conflict Resolution →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Google/FB/Amazon/Apple/Indeed experiences (2021) ↗
Design DNSSystem design
W00 · PART 4 · Networking Fundamentals for System Design →W04 · DAY 05 · Multi-Tier Caching →reported in:GeeksforGeeks · Apple interview experience (2024) ↗
Design an Elevator SystemLow-level design
LLD-04 · Design an Elevator System →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple onsite London, with thread-safety follow-ups (2022) ↗
Design a Chess GameLow-level design
no lesson for this one yetreported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple ICT4 US, OOD round (2020) ↗
Design an In-Memory Event Store for Real-Time QueriesLow-level design
LLD-08 · Design a Logging Framework (Pub-Sub) →W08 · DAY 03 · Data Modeling for Analytics →reported in:LeetCode Discuss · Apple Senior SWE (ICT3), offer accepted (2024) ↗

Likely, from what they build

Our pick, not a report: questions that fit Apple's products.

Design a File Sync ServiceSystem design
IP-10 · Design a File Sync Service (Dropbox / Google Drive) →W05 · DAY 04 · Conflict Resolution →
Design a Notification SystemSystem design
IP-06 · Design a Notification System →W06 · DAY 04 · Scale, Reliability & Edge Cases →

Study path

Every lesson the questions above point to, once, in order.

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