I applied in-person. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Apple in Nov 2009
Interview
This was a half-hour interview on campus one-on-one with an Apple engineer. He asked questions on my background and what I've done, and also how I see myself fitting in with Apple and what I would bring to the table. He explained what working there is like, what would be expected of me and what I could expect, and answered my questions about life at the company.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
What concerns do you have about working for Apple?
A car on a hill of constant slope accelerates from rest under gravity to a point on the hill. If you want to maximize the velocity of the car at this point, where along the length of the car (e.g. downhill or uphill) would you fix an additional mass, if (a) the finishing point is on the slope of the hill or (b) the finishing point is on a flat below the slope of the hill.
I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Apple (Cupertino, CA) in Oct 2008
Interview
Interview went really well. Spent a long time talking about engineering philosophy with a product manager, as well as answering a couple of technical question. I did a really good job as far as I could tell. Apple HR wrote back and told me they were impressed, asking for information to schedule a followup interview.
Apple HR then strung me along for 6 months before I gave up on them. Whenever I wrote back they would say "yeah, we're interested, let me go talk to some managers." I really didn't appreciate it.
So yea, the interview itself was awesome and professional. HR - not so much.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
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.