Product design question
Design an Apple OS feature that promotes climate responsibility.
- Apple
- Product design
- Easy
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Product sense applied to a values driven constraint, sustainability, without sacrificing usability.
How to approach it
- Define the user: everyday iPhone and Mac users, not just environmentally motivated early adopters.
- Identify a concrete lever Apple controls: charging behavior, since batteries and grid carbon intensity both matter.
- Propose carbon aware charging, similar to existing Optimized Battery Charging, timed to when the local grid is cleaner.
- Describe the mechanism: regional grid carbon intensity data plus location signals already available to iOS.
- Define success: percentage of charging sessions shifted to lower carbon windows, opt in rate.
What a strong answer includes
- Builds on a feature Apple already ships instead of inventing an unrelated feature.
- Ties the mechanism to something concrete and available: regional grid carbon intensity data.
- Notes the tradeoff: users may want the phone charged sooner, so it must default to opt in with clear override.
Common mistakes
- Proposing something requiring hardware most users will not buy, missing the OS framing in the question.
- No plan for user control, risking charging delays annoying users.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you communicate the tradeoff to users who need a full charge sooner?
- How would you measure actual carbon impact, not just feature usage?
More product design questions
- How would you redesign the Apple App Store?Apple · Product design · Hard
- You are the PM for Apple TV streaming service. What would your roadmap for the next three years look like?Apple · Product design · Hard
- Do you prefer iOS or Android? Based on your preferred mobile OS, design a product of your choice.Google · Product design · Medium
- You are a PM at Apple. How would you design a feature for the iPhone that enhances accessibility for users with disabilities?Apple · Product design · Medium
- How would you design a new Siri?Apple · Product design · Hard
- How would you improve Apple Podcast?Apple · Product design · Easy
More questions from Apple
Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 7: AI UX and human oversight: design for a system that is wrong sometimes
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop