I worked for Apple for 6 years on iOS/macOS. Like any job, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. It would surprise most people how small the iOS/macOS org

I worked for Apple for 6 years on iOS/macOS. Like any job, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. It would surprise most people how small the iOS/macOS org is, and how big your impact is. Your fresh code gets to run on hundreds of millions of devices, and whatever you worked on is designed by a best-in-class design team and marketed by a best-in-class marketing team. Fresh out of school, I knew I wanted to join a startup/small company. The hiring manager at the time told me that Apple operated like a startup so there was nothing to worry about. In hindsight, joke's on me! I didn't like was how compartmentalized the teams were: the engineers had close to 0 contact with the design and marketing teams, and specs were ferried over by upper management. I also felt that I wasn't developing much as an engineer and as an individual, which is why I quit. Management would be more than happy to keep you working in your area of expertise without much incentive to let you develop other skills. The software org has recently made changes to make switching teams easier. Previously, I could say that it was easier for an engineer to interview for and get a job at Google than to change teams at Apple. For me, changing teams 2 years in was a strategic mistake, and boy do they make you pay for it.