Pros
It is true you get to work with some of the smartest people ever. I've never met a dumb person at Apple. In my line of work you get to see all kinds of problems and get to solve them. Remote work is authorized Mondays and Fridays. In forums where people of the same rank work through problems together, everyone's voice is generally heard and respected and everyone works through the problem together. Perks are good but mediocre in terms of comparison to other big tech companies. Unlike those, you still do have to pay a little for insurance premiums, but they aren't expensive. Dinner for Operations folks are provided if you're there between 7pm and 8pm. If you live in the Bay Area, many shuttles or transit subsidies are provided. There are a lot of opportunities to get involved in extracurricular groups and meet with a lot of people outside of your immediate expertise. Hours are generally flexible. Despite the cons that exist, it is truly a privilege to work here (whether it's for short or long time) and it's cool to be a part of building world-class products.
Cons
Really really bloated management, particularly in operations. All the managers are smart which is respected, but ultimately are very detached from what and how ground level work operates. Some of the demands aren't aligned with other managers which creates extra, work life balance isn't often respected, and it's evident that there's A LOT of managers who are afraid of making decisions. This results in lower levels being tasked with those decisions to shun the accountability. While they market the work as "the best work you your life", you do find yourself spending A LOT of time of meaningless initiatives, slide decks, over-reporting and pre-flight on pre-flight. This is evident in all orgs now. Sometimes the work does really exist to just placate middle and upper managers. While great to work on some of the best products ever, you do feel like a tiny cog that makes marginal difference in the customer experience. There's a lot of dogma and unlike how the company pushes it's Think Different culture publicly, it is true internally it's very cult-like; that is, there often is little to no room for going against the grain. Questioning any leadership direction is slowly becoming frowned upon. I've been getting good performance reviews. Nonetheless, many will attest moving internally is very difficult now and requires just as much effort as moving externally; who you know may get you a foot in the door, but no real advantage as you have to run through the gauntlet with every internal and external candidate. Very equitable, but a farcry from the small company culture it used to have. Other than being here at 7pm, you have to pay for all meals here.