Advertisements

Tim CookThis guy could be your boss.Getty Images/Stephen Lam

Advertisements

Apple is one of the most prestigious companies in the world, so it's not surprising to learn that getting a job there isn't easy.

Apple asks both technical interview questions, based on your past work experience, and some mind-boggling puzzles.

And if you're interviewing to work at Apple's retail stores, you'll be asked a lot of questions about how you'd handle an angry customer. 

We combed through posts on Glassdoor to find some of the toughest interview questions candidates have been asked.

Some require solving tricky math problems, while others are simple but vague enough to keep you on your toes.

Lisa Eadicicco, Nathan McAlone, and Maya Kosoff contributed to an earlier version of this story.

"We have a cup of hot coffee and a small cold milk out of the fridge. The room temperature is in between these two. When should we add milk to coffee to get the coolest combination earliest (at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end)?" —Product Design Engineer candidate

"We have a cup of hot coffee and a small cold milk out of the fridge. The room temperature is in between these two. When should we add milk to coffee to get the coolest combination earliest (at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end)?" —Product Design Engineer candidate
Kris Kooi

"How much does the Empire State Building weigh?" — Solutions Consultant candidate

"How much does the Empire State Building weigh?" — Solutions Consultant candidate
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

"How do you check if a binary tree is a mirror image on left and right sub-trees?" - Research scientist candidate

"How do you check if a binary tree is a mirror image on left and right sub-trees?" - Research scientist candidate
Steven Depolo/Flickr

"What superhero would you be and why?" - Retail candidate

"What superhero would you be and why?" - Retail candidate
Warner Bros.

"Explain what RAM is to a five year old." — Apple Genius candidate

"Explain what RAM is to a five year old." — Apple Genius candidate
Flickr/Eric Hamiter

"How does an airplane wing work?" — Lead Systems Engineer candidate

"How does an airplane wing work?" — Lead Systems Engineer candidate
Wikimedia Commons

"Draw the inside architecture of an iPhone" — Hardware Test Design Lead candidate

"Draw the inside architecture of an iPhone" — Hardware Test Design Lead candidate
Cydia Blog

"Give me 5 ways of measuring how much gasoline is in a car." — Hardware Engineering candidate

"Give me 5 ways of measuring how much gasoline is in a car." — Hardware Engineering candidate
Thomson Reuters

“If you have 2 eggs, and you want to figure out what's the highest floor from which you can drop the egg without breaking it, how would you do it? What's the optimal solution?” — Software Engineer candidate

“If you have 2 eggs, and you want to figure out what's the highest floor from which you can drop the egg without breaking it, how would you do it? What's the optimal solution?” — Software Engineer candidate
Flickr/Antti T. Nissinen

“How would you break down the cost of this pen?” — Global Supply Manager candidate

“How would you break down the cost of this pen?” — Global Supply Manager candidate
mikelao26/flickr

"Describe an interesting problem and how you solved it." — Software Engineer candidate

"Describe an interesting problem and how you solved it." — Software Engineer candidate
Michael Cardus/Flickr

"Explain to an 8 year old what a modem/router is and its functions." — At-Home Advisor candidate

"Explain to an 8 year old what a modem/router is and its functions." — At-Home Advisor candidate
.A.A. via Flickr

"How many children are born every day?" — Global Supply Manager candidate

"How many children are born every day?" — Global Supply Manager candidate
Roominate

"You have a 100 coins laying flat on a table, each with a head side and a tail side. 10 of them are heads up, 90 are tails up. You can't feel, see or in any other way find out which side is up. Split the coins into two piles such that there are the same number of heads in each pile." — Software Engineer candidate

"You have a 100 coins laying flat on a table, each with a head side and a tail side. 10 of them are heads up, 90 are tails up. You can't feel, see or in any other way find out which side is up. Split the coins into two piles such that there are the same number of heads in each pile." — Software Engineer candidate
AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

"How would you test your favorite app?" — Software QA Engineer candidate

"How would you test your favorite app?" — Software QA Engineer candidate
REUTERS/David Gray

"There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?" — Software QA Engineer candidate

"There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of the box it labels. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly?" — Software QA Engineer candidate
vijay chennupati/Flickr

"Scenario: You're dealing with an angry customer who was waiting for help for the past 20 minutes and is causing a commotion. She claims that she'll just walk over to Best Buy or the Microsoft Store to get the computer she wants. Resolve this issue." — Specialist candidate

"Scenario: You're dealing with an angry customer who was waiting for help for the past 20 minutes and is causing a commotion. She claims that she'll just walk over to Best Buy or the Microsoft Store to get the computer she wants. Resolve this issue." — Specialist candidate
Laura604/Flickr

“A man calls in and has an older computer that is essentially a brick. What do you do?” — Apple Care At-Home Consultant candidate

“A man calls in and has an older computer that is essentially a brick. What do you do?” — Apple Care At-Home Consultant candidate
artisrams via www.flickr.com creative commons

“Are you smart?” — Build Engineer candidate

“Are you smart?” — Build Engineer candidate
SunshineCity/Flickr

"What are your failures, and how have you learned from them?" — Software Manager candidate

"What are your failures, and how have you learned from them?" — Software Manager candidate
Don Wright/Flickr

"Have you ever disagreed with a manager's decision, and how did you approach the disagreement? Give a specific example and explain how you rectified this disagreement, what the final outcome was, and how that individual would describe you today." — Software Engineer candidate

"Have you ever disagreed with a manager's decision, and how did you approach the disagreement? Give a specific example and explain how you rectified this disagreement, what the final outcome was, and how that individual would describe you today." — Software Engineer candidate
Jamie Squire / Getty

“You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin slowly increasing the speed. What happens first — does the glass slide off, tip over, or does the water splash out?" — Mechanical Engineer candidate

“You put a glass of water on a record turntable and begin slowly increasing the speed. What happens first — does the glass slide off, tip over, or does the water splash out?" — Mechanical Engineer candidate
Digital Trends
Advertisements

"Tell me something that you have done in your life which you are particularly proud of." — Software Engineering Manager candidate

"Tell me something that you have done in your life which you are particularly proud of." — Software Engineering Manager candidate
Flickr / OhioStateEngineering

"Are you creative? What's something creative that you can think of?" — Software Engineer candidate

"Are you creative? What's something creative that you can think of?" — Software Engineer candidate
Eelke/flickr

"Describe a humbling experience." — Apple Retail Specialist candidate

"Describe a humbling experience." — Apple Retail Specialist candidate
Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design/flickr

"What's more important, fixing the customer's problem or creating a good customer experience?" — Apple At Home Advisor candidate

"What's more important, fixing the customer's problem or creating a good customer experience?" — Apple At Home Advisor candidate
Claudio Villa/Getty Images

“Why did Apple change its name from Apple Computers Incorporated to Apple Inc.?” — Specialist candidate

“Why did Apple change its name from Apple Computers Incorporated to Apple Inc.?” — Specialist candidate
Universal

"You seem pretty positive, what types of things bring you down?" — Family Room Specialist candidate

"You seem pretty positive, what types of things bring you down?" — Family Room Specialist candidate
Apple

"Show me (role play) how you would show a customer you're willing to help them by only using your voice." — College At-Home Advisor candidate

"Show me (role play) how you would show a customer you're willing to help them by only using your voice." — College At-Home Advisor candidate
Flickr / Drew Leavy

"What brings you here today?" — Software Engineer candidate

"What brings you here today?" — Software Engineer candidate
"I need a job?"Evil Erin/flickr

"Given an iTunes type of app that pulls down lots of images that get stale over time, what strategy would you use to flush disused images over time?" — Software Engineer candidate

"Given an iTunes type of app that pulls down lots of images that get stale over time, what strategy would you use to flush disused images over time?" — Software Engineer candidate
iTunes

"If you're given a jar with a mix of fair and unfair coins, and you pull one out and flip it 3 times, and get the specific sequence heads heads tails, what are the chances that you pulled out a fair or an unfair coin?" — Lead Analyst candidate

"If you're given a jar with a mix of fair and unfair coins, and you pull one out and flip it 3 times, and get the specific sequence heads heads tails, what are the chances that you pulled out a fair or an unfair coin?" — Lead Analyst candidate
slgckgc/flickr

"What was your best day in the last 4 years? What was your worst?" — Engineering Project Manager candidate

"What was your best day in the last 4 years? What was your worst?" — Engineering Project Manager candidate
REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

"When you walk in the Apple Store as a customer, what do you notice about the store/how do you feel when you first walk in?" — Specialist candidate

"When you walk in the Apple Store as a customer, what do you notice about the store/how do you feel when you first walk in?" — Specialist candidate
REUTERS/ROBERT GALBRAITH

"Why do you want to join Apple and what will you miss at your current work if Apple hired you?" — Software Engineer candidate

"Why do you want to join Apple and what will you miss at your current work if Apple hired you?" — Software Engineer candidate
Jay Yarow

"How would you test a toaster?" — Software QA Engineer candidate

"How would you test a toaster?" — Software QA Engineer candidate
Pixabay

"If you are to go up the mountain one day and come down the next day, leaving at the same time, will you ever be at the same place at the same time of day?" —Technical Lead candidate at Apple.

"If you are to go up the mountain one day and come down the next day, leaving at the same time, will you ever be at the same place at the same time of day?" —Technical Lead candidate at Apple.
Shutterstock/ottoflick

"Are you the type of person people come to for technical issues?"— Retail specialist candidate

"Are you the type of person people come to for technical issues?"— Retail specialist candidate
Pieces of an iPhone are seen in a repair store in New York, February 17, 2016.REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

"62-63=1; Changing only one element (either digit or operand), make this statement true." — Software Development Test Engineer candidate

"62-63=1; Changing only one element (either digit or operand), make this statement true." — Software Development Test Engineer candidate
flickr/pete

"What is your favorite ice cream?" — Administrative assistant candidate

"What is your favorite ice cream?" — Administrative assistant candidate
Flickr/bert_m_b

"How do you create an efficient supply chain model?" — WW Supply Demand Planner candidate.

"How do you create an efficient supply chain model?" — 	WW Supply Demand Planner candidate.
An employee works at a steel factory in DalianThomson Reuters

"Describe a time when you hurt a friend and how did you handle it?" — Technical specialist candidate

"Describe a time when you hurt a friend and how did you handle it?" — Technical specialist candidate
Hugh Gentry/Reuters

"How would you plan a hand gliding trip for your colleagues to North Korea?" — Hardware Test Design Lead

"How would you plan a hand gliding trip for your colleagues to North Korea?" — Hardware Test Design Lead
North Koreans holding national flags march during a parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War at Kim Il-sung Square, in Pyongyang July 27, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee

"What sort of data would you ask for when looking to bring iPhone to a new market?"— Finance candidate at Apple

Advertisements
"What sort of data would you ask for when looking to bring iPhone to a new market?"— Finance candidate at Apple
Margin Call