Let's Talk About the Apple Internship

The ubiquity of Apple products – from iPhones to Macbooks to ApplePay – in our everyday lives speaks volumes to the power and influence this tech giant has. Apple dominates personal tech for a reason: they hire the best, most innovative employees. This makes it one of the most competitive places to work in the United States, and that low acceptance rates extends to its internships.

But aside from prestige....

What Makes the Apple Internship Special?

According to former interns, the Apple internship experience offers an amazing community, structure and team-building activities that allow interns to delve into their work and workplace. Specifically, past interns have lauded Apple for being able to recruit such a diverse, talented and supportive group of interns. 

Many interns have noted that their experience felt far more collaborative than cutthroat. This is because every intern is assigned a direct manager, co-intern, a technical mentor and an ‘iBuddy,’ or an existing, full-time employee outside of their primary team. This structure helps interns receive high-level support from their direct superiors, and limits the challenges of working cross-functionally across the whole company. Since Apple has so many branches within the corporate structure, the internship is organized to encourage teamwork and education over independent gain. Consequently, students and new graduates can find a diverse set of internships that are tailored to their individual career goals and fields of studies, outside of the normative business or software engineering internships.

Know What You Want to Do

At such a large organization, there are a lot of options. Apple has been able to narrow down its multifaceted corporation into specialized teams and job functions:

• Software Engineering
• Hardware Engineering
• Business
• Marketing
• Finance Development
• Product Design
• Operations
• Wellness
• Environment, Policy & Social Initiatives
• AI and Machine Learning

Although their most well-known internships are geared towards business and engineering, the company has also designed specific teams to come up with corporate solutions to real problems, such as employees’ mental health and technological sustainability. The wide variety of job options means that every Apple intern can find their perfect fit and work on what they are most passionate about.

Even if you find the right fit, getting in to one of these programs takes hard work. How can you secure your spot?

Landing an Apple Internship

When to apply

The application for summer internships opens early September, meaning students should perfect their resumes before summer comes to an end. After submitting, applicants typically wait 2-3 months until they know if they've made it to the interview process.

What to expect from the interview

To become an Apple intern, applicants must undergo a hefty interview process, which is wholly dependent on the team. For most applicants, the interview process timeline goes as follows: 

1. Initial application
2. Phone screen with the hiring manager
3. Phone screen with a full-time employee
4. An all-day onsite interview, with 3-4 more interviews with various members on the team.

👉 Learn more about the apple interview here

Technical Roles

To be prepared for the technical interview process, former software engineers advise that students study medium leetcode and be able to solve scripting and OS questions. Following the technical, software engineers should also expect 5 final round interviews with different full-time members on the team – topics for these interviews are dependent on the specific team, but have reportedly ranged from operating systems to machine learning to react front end developer questions. Recruiters use the technical portion to narrow down the talented field, so aspiring software engineering interns should definitely take the time to brush up on their computer science knowledge to show their best during these last interviews.

Corporate Roles

Those interviewing for a corporate role (finance, operations, marketing) at Apple should research all of the Apple products to fully understand how they work, what gap in the market they fill and what unique features they have compared to competitors. They want to see your effort to understand the company and may ask product-specific questions throughout the interviews. 

Applicants, if successful, will go through around 4 rounds of interviews with various recruiters and managers. These interviews typically test for your communication skills, commitment to the role, and understanding of the corporate side of the company in relation to the specific team you’re applying to (finance, operations, marketing, etc.).

Ultimately, every team will have its own personal interviewing strategy, key qualifications, and additional requirements. The best way you can prepare is by practicing. Learn to adapt to any question or test and think on your feet. Despite the arduous process, former Apple interns have corroborated that the internship is worth it – a great work experience, resume booster and opportunity to network.

👉 Practice up-to-date interview questions here

The Perks: The Office, Salary and More

The internship program also comes with its own set of perks to reward interns for their hard work.

The Office Space

Prior to the pandemic, interns worked at Apple University, located in Cupertino, California, just outside of San Francisco. The University served as a training facility so that interns could easily collaborate with their mentors and each other. Interns were given a stipend that would finance their housing for the summer. In fact, one former intern explained how her team of interns commuted from a nearby hotel in Santa Clara county that was paid for by the company, so that they could easily travel between the campus and their summer home. 

Commuter costs, whether it be by personal car, public transportation or ride-sharing apps like Uber or Lyft, were also subsidized by the company. In addition, breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at the University – former interns have praised the food for being both tasty and easily accessible while working.

However, due to public safety concerns surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this summer’s interns were instructed to complete their internships from home. Even so, Apple provided whatever perks they could. For example, interns were sent Apple merchandise to welcome them into the program.

The Salary... And More Benefits

Liken to internships offered at other big tech companies such as Google or Microsoft, Apple pays a competitive salary, ranging from $22–59 per hour based on position. However, most former Apple interns have stated that they made $38 per hour, averaging out to $6,700 per month. Interns are also paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of how Apple pays its interns compared to other companies. 

• Facebook: $8,000 per month
• Amazon: $7,725 per month
• Salesforce: $7,667 per month
• Google: $7,500 per month
• Microsoft: $7,250 per month
• Uber: $7,167 per month
• Bank of America: $5,833 per month
• Intel Corporation: $5,000 per month
• Tesla: $4,667 per month
• Cisco Systems: $4,667 per month

In addition to pay, interns are given discounts (20% off MacBooks and a few other Apple products) and healthcare for the summer.

With a strong salary and variety of perks, students are flocking to fill the limited summer internship opportunities. If you want one of these spots, keep an eye out for applications, do extensive interview prep, and learn as much as possible about the company and culture. Good luck!