Apple SDE (ICT3) Interview Experience: Take-Home, Phone Screen, and Onsite in Cupertino
Updated July 17, 2026
The candidate held a software engineering role at a mid-sized company and had about a year of experience plus a master's degree in computer science at the time of this interview. A recruiter reached out directly on LinkedIn to start the process, which began with a take-home coding assignment rather than an initial phone screen.
The full loop ran from the take-home assignment through a one-hour phone screen and then a single onsite day made up of four back-to-back one-hour interviews with a team lunch in between. Roughly two and a half weeks after the onsite, the candidate received an offer for an SDE (ICT3) position based in Cupertino.
How the process went
Sourcing
A recruiter reached out directly via LinkedIn to start the process.
Take-home assignment
The candidate was given a coding problem to complete independently and submit by email; the team indicated the solution did not need to be fully optimal as long as it was readable.
Phone screen
A one-hour call that opened with a walkthrough of the take-home submission, followed by background questions and one live coding problem.
Onsite
A single onsite day with four back-to-back one-hour interviews and a team lunch in between; the meal was not free, but the hiring manager covered it.
Outcome
The candidate received an offer roughly two and a half weeks after the onsite.
Take-Home Assignment
Independent coding exercise submitted by email
- Implement a solution for the 'Knight Probability in Chessboard' problem
The solution was expected to be readable rather than fully optimized.
Phone Screen
Take-home review, background questions, and one live coding problem · 1 hour
- Walk through the take-home assignment solution
- Why Apple? What is your favorite Apple product?
- What is the difference between an array and a linked list, and when would you use each?
- Which Apple products use a linked list internally?
- Solve 'Word Ladder'
Onsite Round 1
Background discussion and two coding problems · 1 hour
- Tell me about yourself and your favorite project
- Solve '3Sum'
- Solve 'N-Queens'
Onsite Round 2
Resume walkthrough and two coding problems · 1 hour
- Tell me about yourself; walk through your resume
- Solve 'Set Matrix Zeroes'
- Solve 'Validate Binary Search Tree'
Onsite Round 3
Coding problem and a data-modeling exercise · 1 hour
- Introduce yourself
- Solve 'LFU Cache'
- Given a UML class diagram with some primary/foreign keys missing, reorganize it and discuss how to scale it
Onsite Round 4
Motivation questions and a system design problem · 1 hour
- Why Apple? What new features would you add to Siri?
- Design a URL-shortening service
- Discuss how to scale the design
Key takeaways
- The take-home assignment was reviewed in detail during the phone screen, so being able to explain design choices mattered as much as the code itself.
- Several rounds opened with a behavioral question ('tell me about yourself,' 'why Apple?') before moving into the technical portion, so having a concise personal narrative ready alongside coding practice helped.
- The loop combined classic algorithm problems (3Sum, N-Queens, LFU Cache, Word Ladder) with one system-design question and one data-modeling exercise, so preparation focused only on LeetCode-style questions would not have covered the full loop.
- The candidate's own preparation involved working through roughly 400 practice problems and a few standard interview-prep books over an extended period before applying.
Practice a Apple interview
Rehearse out loud against the kinds of questions in this story — with an AI interviewer that asks follow-ups.
Practice this interviewSource
The questions and process facts come from the candidate's public write-up, linked below. The retelling above is our own summary.
Candidate's public write-up on LeetCode Discuss