Apple guide · System design
Apple system design interview questions
28 questions, tiered for the Apple loop. High-level and low-level design prompts framed the way Apple design rounds tend to run, with clarifying questions, requirements, a mermaid architecture diagram, deep dives, and trade-offs per level.
Scored on scoping and trade-offs, but Apple design rounds are commonly reported to go deeper on a single component relevant to the team (e.g., a caching layer, a sync protocol) rather than covering breadth across a large distributed system.
Other Apple lists: Coding · Problem solving
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must15 questions
Solve these cold. They cover the patterns this loop leans on hardest.
- Design a Chat Messaging System
- Design a Collaborative Document Editor
- Design a Distributed Cache
- Design a Distributed Key-Value Store
- Design a News Feed
- Design a Rate Limiter
- Design a URL Shortener
- Design a Video Streaming Platform
- Design a Web Crawler
- Design Cloud File Storage and Sync
- Design Search Autocomplete
- Design Top-K Heavy Hitters
- In-Memory File System
- Rate Limiter Library
- Text Editor with Undo/Redo
should12 questions
Work through once, then revisit any you could not finish on paper.
- Design a Distributed Message Queue
- Design a Metrics Monitoring and Alerting System
- Design a Notification System
- Design a Payment System
- Design a Ride Matching Service
- Design an Ad Click Event Aggregation System
- Design an Email Service
- Design Nearby Places Search
- Elevator System
- Logging Framework
- Parking Lot
- Snake Game
stretch1 question
Only if the must and should lists feel easy. Commonly reported at senior levels or as follow-ups.
13 must-tier questions with full solutions
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Questions people ask
Are these the real Apple system design questions?
They are original questions built around the patterns commonly reported from Apple loops, not leaked or copied problems. Interviewers rotate questions constantly; preparing by pattern and tier is what transfers.
What do must / should / stretch mean?
Must: the patterns a Apple system design round leans on hardest; solve them cold. Should: work once and revisit. Stretch: senior-level or follow-up material.
What is free?
Every problem statement, examples and hints on this list. One system design question is fully open as a preview, and signing in unlocks the 13-question starter pack. The worked approach, solution, tests and per-company notes are in the guide.