The interview process for VLSI digital design typically includes an initial screening, technical interviews covering digital design concepts, RTL coding, timing analysis, logic synthesis, verification, problem-solving, and sometimes a practical coding task.
I applied online. I interviewed at Apple in Feb 2026
Interview
1 - Applied to a different team but wasn't a good fit (was referred to another team). 2 - Got scheduled an interview with the hiring manager. A successful interview would lead to 6 more interviews with engineers. 3 - Didn't make it past the technical screen for my level.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
FIFO fundamentals (synchronous) and depth calculation, arbiter fundamentals (fixed priority, round robin, weighted), experience with cache, how to optimize a given logic path for timing assuming area is no concern, my ASIC design experience (timing closure, microarchitecture, block explanations).
applied online, got call after a long time, 1 round video call interview, talking about hardware design flow, low power. Asked a question someone already posted here long time ago, surprised.
Rtl Design Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Apple with 3.2 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 80% positive. To compare, the company-average is 64% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Rtl Design Engineer roles take an average of 41 days to get hired, when considering 5 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Apple overall takes an average of 29 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Apple as a Rtl Design Engineer according to 5 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 30%
One on one interview: 30%
Group panel interview: 20%
Presentation: 20%
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