A friend of mine had previously worked for Apple and still had contacts within the company, so I asked if he could pass along my resume. Within a week, I was contacted by a recruiter in an iPhone engineering group. He wanted to set me up for a phone interview with a manager. We had a time set for the next week, so I prepared for the phone call.
The day of the call came, and the manager didn't actually call me at or near our previously agreed upon time. Thirty minutes after the scheduled time, I called Apple and left a voicemail for him. He eventually called me back, apologized for his lack of responsiveness, and asked if I still had time to talk. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and mostly covered my background and past project work. It seemed to go well, though it included few technical questions (I was expecting at least a couple, considering the technical nature of the position).
I kept up with the recruiter and heard that they wanted to have me speak with another manager. We scheduled a time to talk, and on that day (and even after another call to his voicemail box) he never called me. I contacted the recruiter and didn't receive much of a response for several days. The interview was rescheduled for a week later, and while the call started a little late, it eventually happened. It lasted again for about 30 minutes, and mostly covered my background and recent projects. The manager asked me a series of exceedingly simple technical questions and let me know that they preferred a certain type of technical experience for the position on his team (an area where I wasn't terribly strong). While the interview again seemed to go well, I got the sense that they were looking for somebody with a different background than me.
I received word several weeks later that the manager didn't feel I would be a great fit for the position. I had expected that based on the second phone call.
I realize that a company like Apple is renowned for its laser-sharp focus on building successful products like the iPhone, but I got the impression that the work often takes precedence over everything else. I felt that it was rather unprofessional to give me, as the candidate, the run-around not just once, but three times. I still have a very high opinion of the people and products, but I was honestly expecting a bit more from the process.