Software Performance Engineer, Vision Products Group

The Vision Product Group is working on exciting new technologies. We are looking for a driven and dedicated performance engineer. This team is building the core foundational platform for some of Apple's most advanced technologies in spatial computing. As part of our creative organization, you will have a uniquely rewarding opportunity to craft future products that will delight and inspire millions of people every day.

Description

This role focuses on optimizing AR/VR system software to deliver high-performance, low-latency, and visually buttery-smooth immersive experiences on custom hardware. You will analyze and improve performance across the full stack—including rendering, GPU/graphics, runtime, OS, and hardware—to ensure smooth frame rates, minimal motion-to-photon latency, and scalable real-time performance. The work combines deep performance investigation, systems optimization, and AI-assisted tooling to push the boundaries of spatial computing.

Minimum Qualifications

A minimum B.S. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
2+ years of experience in software development, system software, performance engineering, or a related technical area.
Experience programming in one or more languages such as C, C++, Python, or similar languages.
Understanding of computer architecture, operating systems, memory hierarchy, concurrency, and software performance fundamentals.
Experience analyzing software performance using profiling, tracing, benchmarking, and performance analysis tools.
Ability to quickly learn new software stacks, technologies, and performance methodologies.
Demonstrated ability to communicate technical findings clearly and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools and willingness to adopt emerging AI technologies to improve engineering effectiveness.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with macOS/iOS kernel, drivers, compilers, runtimes, or embedded systems.
Experience analyzing and optimizing graphics, gaming, or real-time interactive application performance.
Experience using GPU profiling and performance analysis tools to identify rendering bottlenecks, GPU stalls, memory inefficiencies, and synchronization issues.
Experience optimizing frame time, frame rate, input latency, power efficiency, and thermal behavior for interactive applications.
Understanding of AR/VR performance challenges, including motion-to-photon latency, frame stability, asynchronous processing, and maintaining a smooth immersive user experience.
Familiarity with Computer Vision, Transformers, and LLM architectures. Knowledge of AI/ML fundamentals including model evaluation and deployment/inference.