I joined Apple in April 2025 after a burnout-driven exit from a startup. I specifically wanted somewhere with more structure and less chaos. Figured a big company would be calmer. Sharing what I've actually found because the Glassdoor stuff is all over the place.
The honest version: it depends enormously on the org.
What I've noticed that's broadly true:
The secrecy culture is real and takes getting used to. You genuinely don't know what's happening in other parts of the company. This sounds small but it affects how you work. You can't benchmark your project against what another team is doing. You don't talk about your work at dinner, even vaguely.
Meetings are fewer than I expected. My calendar at the startup was chaos. At Apple there's an expectation that you actually do deep work in blocks. Whether that's because of the culture or just my team, I'm not sure.
There's no 'ship fast and learn' culture here. Hardware timelines and Apple's quality bar mean things move slowly. If you're someone who needs to see product ship frequently to feel motivated, this can be hard.
WLB specifically:
My team: good. I work roughly 8-9 hour days, rarely on weekends. My manager has been clear that her team doesn't send Slack messages after 7pm unless it's urgent. I know people in other orgs who are stretched thinner.
Hybrid reality: they're serious about in-office days. Three days minimum for my org, and leadership tracks it loosely. It's not draconian but it's not flexible either.
For people coming from burnout: Apple can be a good landing spot if you land in the right org and with the right manager. The chaos is lower. But it's not a company that's going to accommodate mental health stuff in any formal overt way. You're expected to perform, just in a calmer register.