Apple Software Engineer Compensation
IC ICT2-ICT6, manager ICT4M-ICT7M. Annual cash bonus paid at fiscal year-end. Equity is RSUs in publicly-traded AAPL.
Ranges aggregated from publicly-available sources. Treat the median (p50) as roughly representative; quartile bands reflect negotiation range. Have specific data points or corrections? Send them in.
Company-specific notes
Apple uses ICT-prefixed level codes (ICT2 entry through ICT6 principal) on the IC track and an M-suffix on the manager track. Equity is RSUs in publicly-traded AAPL, vesting 25/25/25/25 with quarterly cliffs after Year 1. Annual cash bonus is paid at fiscal year-end (target 10-15% IC, higher for managers). Apple is famously secretive on compensation internally - cross-team negotiation leverage is common.
Levels
ICT2
Software Engineer (New Grad)| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $130K | $145K | $160K | $175K |
| Equity (annualized) | $25K | $35K | $50K | $65K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $10K | $15K | $18K | $22K |
| Total comp | $165K | $195K | $225K | $255K |
Entry-level. Apple's new-grad equity is below FAANG comparables; cash bonus is paid annually at fiscal year-end. Sign-on bonus is typical $20-50K.
ICT3
Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $165K | $185K | $200K | $220K |
| Equity (annualized) | $35K | $60K | $90K | $125K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $18K | $25K | $30K | $38K |
| Total comp | $220K | $270K | $320K | $380K |
Mid-level. Most-common Apple SWE level for external hires. Comparable to Google L4 / Meta E4.
ICT4
Senior Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $200K | $225K | $250K | $275K |
| Equity (annualized) | $80K | $130K | $185K | $260K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $30K | $40K | $50K | $65K |
| Total comp | $320K | $395K | $480K | $590K |
Senior IC. Negotiation lift is meaningful here; default offers cluster at p25-p50, leverage gets you to p75+.
ICT5
Staff Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $250K | $280K | $305K | $330K |
| Equity (annualized) | $150K | $230K | $340K | $480K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $50K | $65K | $80K | $100K |
| Total comp | $460K | $580K | $730K | $920K |
Staff IC. Equity dominates. Apple's stock is publicly traded; refresh grants are typical at 1-2 years tenure.
ICT6
Principal / Distinguished Software Engineer| Component | p25 | p50 | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $295K | $325K | $355K | $385K |
| Equity (annualized) | $270K | $410K | $615K | $880K |
| Bonus / sign-on amortized | $70K | $90K | $110K | $130K |
| Total comp | $640K | $820K | $1.08M | $1.4M |
Principal IC. Apple uses ICT6 sparingly; the title 'Distinguished' is rarer than at peers. External hires uncommon.
Primary sources
- ·Levels.fyi (public reports, 600+ Apple data points)
- ·US DOL H1B Disclosure Data (Q4 2025)
- ·CA Pay Transparency postings (Apple Cupertino headquarters)
- ·WA State Pay Transparency postings (Apple Seattle)
- ·Comprehensive.io aggregated data
Cross-referenced against public reporting, state pay-transparency postings, and triangulated where source ranges disagreed. Last refresh: 2026-04-29.
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