Apple Vacations interview questions

I applied online and got a quick response. The head of the department took extra time to make sure my questions got answered and was transparent which is refreshing. Everything seemed to go fine until they asked about $ and my read on the situation is that they don't want to pay more, they want to pay less but upper management seems to do well. I asked for a mid-level salary and think that's reason they didn't want to hire me. Who knows though. But the process was good, everyone was very friendly and nice. From talking to a friend who has a friend who used to work there, my read is that they look great up front and get really demanding with a rough life-work balance down the road.