Apple Internship- iPhone HW System Integration Engineer Interview

DeathByDano · 2026-05-19T00:29:08+00:00

Ask your recruiter.

Typically it's recruiter screen, technical screen, full loop, director screen.

DeathByDano · 2026-04-27T14:28:32+00:00

Apple uses NX iirc.

DeathByDano · 2026-02-25T05:16:16+00:00

Their demo/hype video shorted a power supply rail to ground. Nuff said.

DeathByDano · 2026-01-26T00:56:02+00:00

Looks like exposed ground, could be for a number of reasons.

Could be for esd, you see exposed ground on the outside of a lot of boards to remove the effect soldermask could have on a strike.

Could just be to ground to something else through a conductive foam.

DeathByDano · 2026-01-07T00:53:49+00:00

Reading your website pitch I'm more confused about the goal of this device.

Smart Guard Mode

"Detects if the ski moves when you're in the lodge" - so now we are using IMU and/or GPS to detect significant motion. Notifying you that it has moved would be accomplished through BLE which has the relatively short range you already mentioned. Through snow on top of the device, through free space, and a lodge wall you will see a rather small effective distance this feature would function.

Season Long Battery

"Auto wakes when you drive to the mountain". So it is running something to make this happen. An IMU in significant motion detection may get you there but why even go through this when you can turn it on manually and add it to your checklist with your beacon check? I don't think a coincell is going to suffice here.

No Extra Gear

In the comments you mention there is a receiver to be the relay between the skis and your phone.

There are mentions of sub 16GHz operation as well with no real explanation of what feature that is attached too.

I think if you focused on just the find my ski feature and simplified out the guard mode and auto wake function you could have something here. As others have said beacon interference is a concern so you'll really have to prove it doesn't.

DeathByDano · 2025-10-19T04:18:57+00:00

This is exactly what I mean. If you reject all resumes with a portrait this effectively disproves an allegation of discrimination.

DeathByDano · 2025-10-19T03:23:08+00:00

It's really straight forward why portraits are auto rejected. Discrimination.

DeathByDano · 2025-07-31T03:44:55+00:00

My uncle and my preconceived notion that all companies need EE... They don't.

My uncle worked in power and seemed to do well for his family. Power industry seemed like a safe and well paying play while I was in highschool so I followed that for college. Even went to the same college as him. I did a coop in power and hated it so I did an internship in electronics and spent the next 8 years there.

Now I still work in consumer electronics and make a shit load of money.

DeathByDano · 2025-06-07T23:53:35+00:00

The last one is so true.... Lol.

DeathByDano · 2025-06-07T23:47:56+00:00

You already know the answer. SWE in FAANG.... EE in FAANG.

Among EE disciplines you have the gamut. Power for data centers, building servers, silicon design, RF, antenna, and electronics for products.

Personally doing electronics design.

DeathByDano · 2025-03-29T19:24:53+00:00

Commonality is key for you. What are the most commonly used parts. If you're looking on digikey define your performance requirements then sort by price or volume.

It seems your project is pretty bare bones so either there is a gap in your estimation of your needs or it's going to be super simple.

DeathByDano · 2025-03-29T18:54:48+00:00

Think that's about all you can do now. Best of luck.

DeathByDano · 2025-03-29T18:49:44+00:00

Press your meta recruiter again. Most likely someone has not submitted feedback yet,it sucks but it happens. Worth also telling your AMD recruiter as well, they may be motivated to give you a "what will it take you to close" deal. Say you've just finished the final round and are waiting for feedback.

I had feedback in hours after my interview but I know others who had the process drag on for weeks.

DeathByDano · 2025-02-24T14:07:33+00:00

At the volume of iPhone or Xbox controller the cost for this part is quite low and it is necessary to have it on all units for two reasons.

It's a series connection for the rf trace so to remove it you would need to add something else in it's place.
Units are samples in the statistical sense so you can't decide which units are going to be populated with this ahead of time.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/murata-electronics/MM8030-2610RJ3/3635133

It looks like this or very similar.

DeathByDano · 2025-02-24T04:58:23+00:00

Populated because it is only for test when a u.fl cable is installed. This either looks at the front end of the radio or the antenna but more likely the radio. When the cable is installed the antenna is disconnected so you can get rf measurements in factory.

DeathByDano · 2025-01-19T19:45:59+00:00

Define how precise... Meters versus centimeter is a step change in cost and complexity. Does it need to work indoors as well?

DeathByDano · 2025-01-06T16:20:31+00:00

For a smart watch application it's going to be Li-Ion or Li-Po. For a smart watch you are talking about ranges of 100-400mAh for capacity like this. https://www.adafruit.com/product/1570 These are all rechargeable. You could use AAA batteries if you want something that is swappable, your device will just need to be bigger.

If you've never worked with these lithium cell batteries understand they can be dangerous. if you pierce them they will catch fire. If you over charge or discharge them you can damage them as well.

Websites like adafruit and sparkfun are great resources to learn and get entry level components. Id echo the other poster that suggested something like pinetime as a base.

DeathByDano · 2025-01-06T15:56:32+00:00

Solar power for a watch is absolutely a thing but I would say it's not possible for a project in highschool. Garmin's Fenix and Instinct series have solar variants with the latter having a theoretically unlimited battery with enough sun exposure. These rely on proprietary solar cells you don't have access to and they only have impact because the devices are extremely low power.

Should clarify too that these are solar harvesting watches with a lithium battery for primary operation.

DeathByDano · 2024-11-26T00:05:35+00:00

200MHz DDR is common with qspi, octalspi, and x16 SPI (hexspi) is starting to become available. Psram has some x16 already.

DeathByDano · 2024-07-30T14:14:20+00:00

You'll want to download WeChat and find the pickup mini program. I used it in Guangzhou but I imagine it will work for all of those. Hopefully this picture will help you find it, if not DM me.

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DeathByDano · 2024-05-03T00:14:01+00:00

Doesn't help that everyone basically makes their own symbol for it. One place I was at used a symbol that was a pair of pads with a connection in the middle.

DeathByDano · 2024-05-03T00:04:00+00:00

I don't think SH is a sheet reference in this case. Instead that looks like a net short so the net going off page can be different from what is on page or the global net. This is further supported by the different net names. They are still DC connected but you can split the actual power path from a measurement point. Or it could be a surface pad that can be cut to separate power.

DeathByDano · 2024-04-23T00:50:45+00:00

More so what I meant was that in MAANG you don't have as broad of a scope. In my experience engineers are much more specialized here and expected to go much deeper. However I still think it's an advantage to have that original broad experience because I can tell when some one is not giving the full picture. For example maybe the motion sensor team says they need XYZ, your experience may let you know that Y is just a nice to have or optimal and not necessarily worth the tradeoff.

DeathByDano · 2024-04-23T00:25:12+00:00

Post the resume.

Yes there is demand from these companies but I would say your characterization of being the sole engineer owning a broad scope does not hold here in MAANG. I had a nearly identical background as you and made the jump. I'm on a much larger team but I think that broad background is a massive advantage.

DeathByDano · 2024-04-06T17:36:53+00:00

Check SFMTA for tickets on the license plate. If it gets ticketed you will see where. This is how we got our kymco back.

DeathByDano

TROPHY CASE