Quality Engineer

Apple Inc.; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 139,500 - 258,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical and dental coverage

Retirement benefits

Employee stock programs

Discounted products and free services

Educational reimbursement

Job summary

Apple Inc. is seeking a Quality Engineer to validate the next-generation MacBook trackpads and keyboards. In this role, you will not only test hardware but validate the intelligence behind it, ensuring a seamless user experience.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 3+ years of experience in firmware validation or embedded development. You’ll work closely with a dynamic team to architect test strategies and bring innovations to life, with a base salary range of $139,500 to $258,100, along with numerous benefits.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in firmware validation, embedded development, or a related technical field.
• Demonstrated experience with bug hunting, regression testing, and system-level debugging.
• Ability to understand and test the underlying logic that maps physical inputs to software events.

Responsibilities

• Validate the sophisticated logic that interprets raw sensor data.
• Architect and implement comprehensive test strategies for new features.
• Analyze complex data sets to provide actionable feedback to developers.

Skills

Firmware validation

Embedded development

Bug hunting

Automation fixtures design

Python

C++

AI-assisted workflows

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Logic Analyzers

Job description

Apple is known for having the highest quality products in the world. We are a fast-paced, dynamic team that never compromises when it comes to delivering a world-class experience to millions of customers around the world. We are seeking a creative and hands‑on Quality Engineer to drive the validation of Apple’s next-generation MacBook trackpads and keyboards. In this role, you will do more than just test hardware—you will validate the intelligence that brings our devices to life. You will focus on the invisible logic that translates a simple physical touch into a seamless digital interaction, ensuring the device understands the user’s intent perfectly every time. You will join a collaborative team of developers and industry experts, working on everything from early prototypes to mass production.

Description

As a Quality Engineer, you will immerse yourself in the physical and digital intersection of our products. You will spend your time working directly with hardware—at your desk and in the lab—architecting new test cases that push our firmware and logic to their limits. Your primary challenge will be to wear the "customer hat" while applying deep technical knowledge. You must be able to see around corners, identifying scenarios where the code functions as written, but the "feel" or outcome isn't quite right. You will act as a strategic partner to Firmware, Software, and Algorithms Developers, as well as Product Design and Human Factors teams, using the data you generate to influence design decisions and refine the complex behaviors that define the user experience.

Responsibilities

• Validate the sophisticated logic that interprets raw sensor data, ensuring that digital hardware inputs translate naturally into real‑world interactions.
• Architect and implement comprehensive test strategies for new features, ensuring continuous validation across the MacBook ecosystem.
• Bring your own ingenuity to the lab by designing and programming custom robotic automation fixtures to solve unique testing challenges.
• Go beyond specification compliance to validate the "magic" of the input device, identifying edge cases in human‑device interaction.
• Partner with Electrical Engineering and Factory teams to scale validation from early prototypes to mass production.
• Analyze complex data sets to provide actionable feedback to developers, helping them optimize firmware performance and reliability.
• Lead the adoption and development of LLM‑powered tooling to accelerate validation workflows through AI‑assisted test failure triage, bug report routing, and natural‑language test orchestration, advancing the next generation of intelligent automation for input device validation.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years of experience in firmware validation, embedded development, or a related technical field.
• Demonstrated experience with bug hunting, regression testing, and system‑level debugging.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in firmware validation or development with a track record of shipping quality consumer products.
• Experience implementing AI‑assisted workflows (e.g., code generation, data analysis, automated testing) and driving their integration into team processes.
• Ability to understand and test the underlying logic that maps physical inputs to software events (algorithm validation).
• Strong "quality mindset" with the ability to empathize with the end‑user to find bugs that traditional automated tests might miss.
• Experience designing or programming robotic automation fixtures and integrating them into test frameworks.
• Proficiency with Python, Bash, Swift, or other scripting languages for test automation.
• Experience with embedded software architecture (C, Objective‑C, C++) and hardware debugging tools (Oscilloscopes, Logic Analyzers).

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $139,500 and $258,100, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple’s discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You’ll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation.

Learn more about Apple Benefits

Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant.

At Apple, we believe accessibility is a fundamental human right. You’ll find that idea reflected in everything here — in our culture, our benefits and our digital tools. By welcoming as many perspectives as possible, we help you build a career where you feel like you belong.

Learn about accessibility in Apple’s workplace

Learn about reasonable accommodations for job applicants

Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.