Deep questions about data structures and sorting algorithms that are perfectly addressed by the standard library in JS iirc. I understand that virtually anything in CS is or can be relevant, especially for such a competitive role. I don't think one should limit their knowledge wholly to a specific domain, but it seemed like there was so much emphasis put on these kinds of concepts that there was very little time left to put emphasis on things that actually might be relevant in the day to day. Beyond that though, I can't say. That's all I got out of it.

I feel like the binary tree questions may actually be relevant for JS, considering there aren't any the standard lib.

General tree traversal is pretty valid for frontend. Specifically binary tree is not.

It's really not far fetched to imagine needing to do a prefix scan of data held in client-side memory.

I'm sure Apple has a JS lib with a binary tree in it.

I imagine they're complaining about the technical interview. For the record, when I did the technical interview I didn't find it too onerous -- mostly a more advanced sort of FizzBuzz to check you could do some intermediate math and handle basic data structures and logic flow.

My understanding is that at Apple this can vary quite a lot in difficulty or depth depending on what team you're looking at, and who is interviewing you.

Indeed. My last onsite with apple concluded with a couple hours of grilling on how to write performant synchronization primitives on various real architectures. I was not interviewing for the relevant teams.

Yikes! I would sort of wonder if it was a test to see if you know scope. But for two hours?

I know its Apple but I'd definitely be prepared to walk out. In that situation that gives you the freedom to clarify the job description -- if they say it is in the description, I'd save everyone time and say I don't have that knowledge, thank them for their time, and wish them luck on their next n months of searching for their unicorn.

If it isn't, I'd probably go full stick-in-the-mud and explain that I could find the answers to those questions but it would be a waste of everyone's time: I'm an A player and I don't focus on irrelevant things that dilute abilities and ultimately the product (basically throw Steve Jobs at them).

I have a chemical engineering degree from a "Division 2" university and part of a computer science degree from a fairly low-ranked research university.

Your strategy would be an epic failure for me. Granted, nearly any strategy would be.