Apple · Primly Community

Apple new grad / entry level salary 2026, my offer and a few others I've collected

jordan_pm · 4 replies

I'll just post what I have. Class of 2025, SWE role, Bay Area team.

My offer: $145k base, $160k RSU grant over 4 years (same vesting quirk as higher levels, fixed annual vest date), 10% target bonus, $10k sign-on.

Total year-1 comp after the cliff: roughly $197k if you include estimated bonus and a rough RSU value. Year 2 onwards closer to $200k-$205k assuming stock doesn't move.

Friends and classmates I've talked to since accepting: Same school, SWE, hardware org: $142k base, $140k RSU, $8k sign-on. Got a slightly lower grant, probably because the team wasn't as competitive for recruiting. Friend who had a competing Meta offer: $148k base, $180k RSU, $15k sign-on. They moved the RSU grant when she mentioned the competing offer. She didn't even ask explicitly, recruiter volunteered it. Friend, no competing offer, different team: $138k base, $120k RSU, $5k sign-on.

So the delta between 'no leverage' and 'one competing offer' looks like it's about $40-60k in RSUs over 4 years at the new grad level. Sign-on also moves.

I was nervous about negotiating. I'm genuinely not sure if my number moved because of anything I said or because of some baseline factor. I said I had a competing offer (I did, from a smaller company at a lower number) and the recruiter came back 3 days later with the improved RSUs without me pushing further.

Anyone else have 2026 new grad data points? Especially curious about non-Bay-Area locations.

4 replies

newgrad_neil

The competing offer thing is real. Even a mid-size tech company offer moves Apple. I was worried mine wasn't 'big' enough to use but recruiter responded positively. The number doesn't have to be bigger, just real.

pivot_pat

Do they expect you to name the competing company or just say you have one? I have an offer from a startup and wasn't sure if dropping a startup name would actually help.

jp_newgrad

I named the company. Recruiter asked for the base number but not the full comp breakdown. I've heard from others that Apple usually doesn't ask for proof, they just note it and come back with adjustments if they can move.

tired_recruiter

The fixed annual vest date thing genuinely catches new grads off guard. Please model your actual year-1 liquidity, not the nominal 25% figure. If the company vest date is in March and you start in September, you're waiting 18 months for the first tranche.