One former manager says staff are on call 24 hours a day and barely have time to speak to their families even when at home.
Two former Apple managers have described the pressure cooker atmosphere of working for the technology giant.
Ex-employees Don Melton and Nitin Ganatra told a tech podcast that staff are expected to be permanently on call - even receiving emails from executives in the middle of the night.
"It's a lot like working in a nuclear power plant, but you don't get one of those protective suits," Mr Melton said.
"It's a lot of radiation and you either learn to survive it or you die."
He said Sunday is a work night for everybody at Apple because the executive meeting takes place the next day.
"So you had your phone out there, you were sitting in front of your computer, it didn't matter if your favourite show was on.
"This was especially worse after The Sopranos ended because for a while there, you could count on the hour that The Sopranos was on that (former Apple executive) Scott Forstall wouldn't bug you because he was watching The Sopranos. And that was your reprieve.
"You could go to the bathroom, you could have a conversation with your family, you know, whatever. But after that ..."
He also touched on the chief executive Tim Cook's notorious working hours.
"When you hear the so-called apocryphal stories about Tim Cook coming to work in the wee hours and staying late, it's not just some PR person telling you stories to make you think that Apple executives work really hard like that. They really do that.
"I mean, these people are nuts. They're just, they are there all the time."
He also revealed his advice to wannabe managers: "When someone came into my office and said they want to be a manager, I asked them 'How did you sleep last night?'
“And they said 'Oh, fairly well' and I said 'Good, because that's the last good night's sleep you’re going to get'."
Meanwhile Nitin Ganatra described how he viewed himself as a "slacker" for only checking emails four times a day while on vacation.
Despite the long hours, the most senior employees at Apple earn large amounts of money. In 2013 Tim Cook earned $74m (£46m) in salary and stock options.
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