The Apple High School Internship: Your Ultimate Guide
- Estelle Reardon
- Jul 16
- 6 min read
A job at Apple is the dream of many high schoolers interested in technology, design, and innovation. An internship with a global tech leader like Apple is a great way to get your foot in the door, build work experience, bolster your resume, and develop the skills needed for a career in the tech industry. But, does Apple offer internships to high school students?
Does Apple Offer High School Internships?
Officially, Apple doesn’t offer internships to high school students—they have no formal internship program for high schoolers. While you may have heard of a high schooler who secured an internship with the tech giant, they likely landed the position through family or personal connections or a special partnership through a school or non-profit.
Other Opportunities at Apple for High Schoolers
Apple might not offer internships to high schoolers, but working at your local Apple Store can present a great first step into the company’s ecosystem—providing real experience, connection within the company, and potentially paving the way for future internships.
Generally, Apple Store employees are over age 18. However, if you’re passionate about the product and have the required skills, it can’t hurt to introduce yourself to the manager and explain why they should give you a shot.
Top 10 Alternatives to Apple High School Internships
Although an Apple internship will remain a dream for students while in high school, there are a number of great internship opportunities for high schoolers in technology. Below are 10 prestigious tech internships for high school students.
Ages: Graduating Seniors
Location: Redmond, Washington, and Atlanta, Georgia
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February 26
The Microsoft High School Discovery Program is a four-week summer opportunity introducing graduating seniors to product design. Participants will work on a project focusing on addressing customer pain points while gaining firsthand experience in fields like software engineering, product management, and user design. The program also allows students to explore potential career paths and Microsoft and begin building their network of technology professionals.
Students have to meet certain criteria to qualify for the Microsoft Discovery Program, namely, they must live within certain regions or attend a specific school. Check out our article, The Microsoft High School Internship: Your Ultimate Guide, for an in-depth exploration of its requirements and benefits.
Ages: Sophomores
Location: Menlo Park, California
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February 14
Students get an up-close look at the inner workings of one of the world’s leading social media companies in the Meta Summer Academy. Also known as Facebook Summer Academy or the Facebook High School Internship, this six-week paid program introduces students to the broad spectrum of careers found in the tech industry—both technical and non-technical. Interns learn hard skills, like coding, but also build soft skills like teamwork, communication, and networking.
Meta Summer Academy is open only to students from the communities surrounding their corporate headquarters. Interested in learning more details about Meta Summer Academy? Read our article, Facebook High School Internship: Your Ultimate Guide.
Ages: Seniors
Location: Online
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 8
High schoolers who are at least 18 years of age can build real-world coding experience in this 12+ week summer program. Participants work on open-source projects, gaining hands-on exposure to software development. Projects cover a wide range of fields, including:
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Machine Learning
Cloud
Operating Systems
Graphics
Programming Languages
Robotics
Security
Projects are broken down into three categories based on their time commitment: small (roughly 90 hours), medium (roughly 175 hours, and large (roughly 350 hours). Participants earn a stipend for their contribution.
Ages: Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors
Location: Online
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 29
Girls Who Code offers two summer programs for computer-curious high schoolers: The Summer Immersion Program and Pathways Program.
Summer Immersion Program: This two-week experience introduces participants to game design. The course covers beginner and intermediate computer science topics like user experience design, rapid prototyping, playtesting, and using a JavaScript library.
Pathways Program: This self-paced, six-week program allows students to pursue one of three tracks—Data Science/AI, Cybersecurity, or Web Development—while learning about coding languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python.
All program participants have the chance to connect with like-minded peers, learn about tech careers, and meet professionals working in the industry.
Ages: Sophomores and Juniors
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 15
This free four-week program introduces participants to the fundamentals of cybersecurity and computer science. While not an internship per se, students engage with topics like “white-hat” hacking, cryptography, stenography, digital forensics, privacy, and data usage through hands-on activities and real-world security analysis. Students also build valuable communication skills through theatre-based workshops.
CS4CS is open exclusively to students from New York City and Nassau County.
Ages: Rising Juniors
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 1
CS Scholars is a free four-week residential program hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. Participants engage in college-level coursework exploring programming and problem-solving in Python. In addition to bolstering their science skills, students also attend workshops focused on college prep and admissions, and explore career paths in computer science.
CS Scholars isn’t a traditional internship, but it offers students the experience of living and learning like a computer science major at a top university—like an internship in college life.
Ages: Juniors and Seniors
Location: Austin, Texas
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: January 12
This free one-week residential program at the University of Texas, Austin, provides students with hands-on computer science experience. The program is offered in two tracks: the Standard Edition and the Machine Learning Edition.
Standard Edition: Focuses on C++ and project management. Students in the Standard Edition also have the chance to program an LED light show and get real-world experience with new technologies.
Machine Learning Edition: Python is at the heart of the Machine Learning Edition. Participants gain a deeper understanding of AI-driven learning and its social impact while engaging in hands-on activities like training their own machine learning model.
All participants will increase their knowledge of careers in tech, bolster skills like teamwork, and build a network of similarly interested peers and professionals.
Ages: Rising Juniors and Seniors
Location: Seattle, Washington
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 3
Rising high school juniors and seniors are paired with current undergraduate students in this program focused on building community and skills. Students learn how to code and engage in problem-solving activities that combine topics from fields like technology, society, and justice. They also get to explore technology careers, connect with computer science students, and gain college admissions support—receiving advising in everything from how to afford it to what fields to pursue.
The program is open to students attending Washington State high schools. This is a paid opportunity, with participants receiving a $1,200 stipend at the completion of the three-week program.
Ages: Graduating Seniors
Location: Danville, Virginia
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 28
Interns in this paid program receive on-the-job training and leadership development while gaining experience in fields like data analysis, coding, robotics, and information technology. Interns are paired with a mentor and commit to working 28 hours a week (a total of 224 hours) over the course of the program’s eight weeks.
Ages: Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: N/A
Boston Public Schools high school students with an interest in technology will want to take a close look at this incredible internship opportunity. High schoolers are put to work in the tech departments of numerous local industries, gaining real-world experience in fields like software, web development, IT support, digital/social media, and database/data analysis. Not only do interns build real-world experience, they also develop the soft skills—like communication, organization, and teamwork—needed to thrive in any profession.
Internships last between six and seven weeks, and interns work between 25 and 35 hours a week. Interns are paid $15 an hour and can earn between $3,000 and $3,5000 over the course of the program.
StandOut Connect Program
The StandOut Connect Program offers students another proven pathway to securing internships similar to the Microsoft Discovery Program and Meta Summer Academy. Program participants learn how to navigate the internship process and excel in their roles before gaining hands-on experience through a two-month placement at a company. Many interns take on leadership positions, and it’s common for them to receive ongoing opportunities based on their performance.
StandOutSearch also maintains a free database of high school internships, research opportunities, and summer programs—if there were an Apple high school internship program, you’d find it on StandOutSearch. The database is extremely searchable and can be filtered by categories like location, interest (such as STEM), and whether they’re paid or unpaid.
High School Internships Help You Stand Out
You might have to wait until college for your dream Apple internship, but there are a lot of good reasons high schoolers should try to lock in an internship. It provides the chance to explore careers, build skills, and meet professionals. Internships can also set you apart in college admissions, separating you from competitive fields of applicants.
An Apple internship isn’t a reality for most high schoolers, but as you can see, there’s no shortage of tech-focused internships available.
