Approximation sequences and derived equivalences occur frequently in the research of mutation of tilting objects in representation theory, algebraic geometry and noncommutative geometry. In this paper, we introduce symmetric approximation sequences in additive categories and weakly n-angulated categories which include (higher) Auslander-Reiten sequences (triangles) and mutation sequences in algebra and geometry, and show that such sequences always give rise to derived equivalences between the quotient rings of endomorphism rings of objects in the sequences modulo some ghost and coghost ideals.