Company guides
⬜ Apple — Frontend Interview Guide
Emphasis: Deep fundamentals, performance, and meticulous attention to detail. Often framework-agnostic — strong vanilla JS/CSS expected. Team-specific loops vary widely.
Related: Company index · ROADMAP
The loop (typical)
| Round | Focus | Prep section |
|---|---|---|
| Recruiter + team screen | Experience, fit | — |
| Coding 1–2 | JS/DOM, sometimes DSA | 03-javascript · 02-browser |
| UI / build round | Component in vanilla or framework | 16-machine-coding |
| System design / deep dive | Depends on team | 15-system-design |
| Behavioral | Craft, collaboration | — |
What they emphasize
- Fundamentals — DOM, events, CSS, the platform; often without a framework.
- Attention to detail — pixel accuracy, smoothness, edge cases.
- Performance — animation smoothness, rendering, memory.
- Note: Apple loops are highly team-dependent — clarify expectations with your recruiter.
Frequently asked (community-sourced)
Machine coding (often vanilla JS)
- Build a Carousel → flagship
- Build an accessible Modal → flagship
- Build a custom Video Player → flagship
- Build Tabs / Accordion → 16-machine-coding
Fundamentals
- DOM, event delegation,
this, closures → 03-javascript - CSS animations / GPU → 05-css
- Rendering pipeline → 02-browser
Prep plan (2 weeks)
- Practice components in vanilla JS/CSS (no framework crutch).
- Review browser internals + CSS animation perf.
- Build to a high polish/detail bar.
- Clarify the team's loop with your recruiter early.
🟢 Green flags · 🔴 Red flags
🟢 Do: be fluent in vanilla JS/CSS · sweat the details (pixels, edge cases) · keep animations smooth at 60fps · clarify the team's expectations early. 🔴 Avoid: depending on a framework for everything · sloppy visual details · janky/expensive animations.
📝 Sample interviewer prompts
- "Build a carousel in vanilla JS (no framework)."
- "Animate this transition smoothly at 60fps — how?"
- "Explain the browser rendering pipeline."
Interviewed at Apple? Add the questions you got (role + year) via a PR.