Median Tuning Engineer

Media Tuning Engineer

At Apple, extraordinary ideas have a way of quickly becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences. Sound is an essential and compelling facet of the customer experience. Apple has assembled an elite Acoustics team that enables our customers to experience music with delight, communicate with clarity, and enjoy elegant sound throughout our product line. In Apple Acoustics we work with the utmost attention to detail, directly impacting the design of products that millions of people around the world love! Our Audio Technology team is looking for a Media Tuning to shape the subjective and objective audio experience for our next generation of products. This role is responsible for overall audio quality across a diverse range of acoustic designs, ensuring that our products and experiences meet the highest standards of fidelity and intent. You will act as a primary technical and experiential authority for all Apple products including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, HomePod, AirPods, Vision Pro with an emphasis on audio playback and recording.

The successful candidate will be responsible for defining and executing the "Apple Sound" across our entire product ecosystem. This role requires a rare convergence of technical mastery and artistic intuition. Someone who possesses both a golden ear for critical listening and the engineering rigor to translate those perceptions via world-class digital signal processing. You aren't just adjusting gains and frequencies; you are defining the sonic identity for products like iPhone, Vision Pro, and AirPods, ensuring that every note and voice remains true to the artist's intent while pushing the boundaries of what is possible in small-form-factor acoustics. As a Media Tuning and Applied ML Engineer, you will serve as the final gatekeeper for audio quality. You will navigate the complex intersection of physics and software, utilizing advanced problem-solving to overcome hardware constraints. By curating the datasets that feed our machine learning models and establishing the subjective benchmarks for AI-enhanced audio, you will ensure that our next generation of intelligent features from spatial rendering to real-time speech enhancement feels natural, immersive, and unmistakably Apple. This is a high-impact role that demands a strong aesthetic opinion, the ability to advocate for excellence in a fast-paced cross-functional environment, and a relentless commitment to the user's sensory experience.

• Signal Processing & Tuning: Apply equalization, dynamic processing, compression, and limiting to achieve high-fidelity sound across diverse hardware platforms.
• ML Model Evaluation: Help curate and assess high-quality audio datasets for the training and deployment of ML systems (e.g., source separation, speech enhancement, and generative audio).
• Technical Execution: Create and submit final tunings using Apple-defined tools and processes, ensuring seamless integration into product firmware.
• Demonstration & Feedback: Develop and present comprehensive audio demonstrations of tuning iterations to cross-functional leadership, incorporating feedback into rapid design cycles.
• Engineering Collaboration: Partner with audio software engineers to improve signal processing techniques and provide critical feedback on internal tuning tools and external vendor solutions.
• Strategic Benchmarking: Establish subjective quality standards and "golden sets" to validate the performance of AI/ML-enhanced audio features.
• Cross-Functional Ownership: Operate within demanding production schedules, coordinating with hardware, software, and product design teams to resolve complex acoustic challenges.

• 5 years professional experience in music/audio production, mastering, or high-fidelity system tuning will also be considered.
• Deep technical understanding of equalization, dynamics, time-domain processing, speakers, microphones and audio signal flow.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to translate subjective auditory experiences into actionable engineering requirements.

• Most of our engineers have advanced degrees in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or an equivalent field, but if you've followed a different path to expertise in Audio engineering, we still want to hear from you.
• Experience shipping high-complexity, high-volume consumer electronics (e.g., headphones, smart speakers, or wearable audio).
• Familiarity with modern audio ML tasks such as speech synthesis, source separation, and generative soundscapes.
• Proficiency in MaxMSP, Python, MatLab or similar environments for data curation and audio analysis as well as standard audio production software.
• Professional background in film/video post-production, broadcast, or studio recording.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines in a cross-functional environment.

At Apple, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within a role. The base pay range for this role is between $147,400 and $272,100, and your base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Apple employees also have the opportunity to become an Apple shareholder through participation in Apple's discretionary employee stock programs. Apple employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, and can purchase Apple stock at a discount if voluntarily participating in Apple's Employee Stock Purchase Plan. You'll also receive benefits including: Comprehensive medical and dental coverage, retirement benefits, a range of discounted products and free services, and for formal education related to advancing your career at Apple, reimbursement for certain educational expenses — including tuition. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary bonuses or commission payments as well as relocation. Learn more about Apple Benefits. Note: Apple benefit, compensation and employee stock programs are subject to eligibility requirements and other terms of the applicable plan or program. Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant. Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.