Dealing with a slow iPhone? There are various reasons why your iPhone might’ve slowed down, such as insufficient memory, too many background processes, outdated software, etc.
So let’s troubleshoot the issue and go through eight tips that help you speed up your iPhone and get it back on track.
- Restart your iPhone
- Close unnecessary apps
- Clear the RAM
- Update iOS
- Turn off Background App and Location services
- Turn on Reduce Motion on iPhone
- Free up space on your iPhone
- Reset to factory settings
1. Restart your iPhone
The first step is to restart your iPhone. If you have an iPhone X or later, press and hold the Side button along with either of the volume buttons. If your iPhone has a Home button, press and hold the side button until the power off slider appears. Release when the slider appears on the screen and drag the slider from left to right to turn off your iPhone.
Wait for about 30 seconds. Then, turn your iPhone on by pressing and holding down the Side button until the Apple logo appears. This refreshes the system and automatically fixes some glitches that may be causing it to run slow.
2. Close unnecessary apps
Most iPhones can handle multitasking very well, but if you’re running a lot of resource-intensive apps such as photo/video editors or a game, your iPhone can lag or slow down.
This is especially noticeable on older phones that may be low on memory. You should force close apps that you’re not actively using and see if that helps to speed up your iPhone.
3. Clear the RAM
Flush out the RAM to bring back the top speed of your iPhone. Read our guide for full instructions about how to clear RAM on iPhone to run faster.
4. Update iOS
Updating to the latest version of iOS can fix many issues you may be experiencing on your iPhone. You can check for updates by going to Settings → General → Software Update.
5. Turn off Background App and Location services
Certain processes such as Background App Refresh and Location Services consume a lot of power, which can slow down your device. So we recommend turning these off to speed up your iPhone.
- Go to Settings → General.
- Tap Background App Refresh → Background App Refresh → Toggle it off.
- Then, go to Settings → Privacy → Location Services.
- Toggle off Location Services.
6. Turn on Reduce Motion on iPhone
The animated visual effects on iOS are cool, but they’re also great at using up precious resources. If your iPhone is lagging, it’s a good idea to turn off these parallax effects.
- Go to Settings → Accessibility (In iOS 12 or earlier, General → Accessibility.)
- Now, go to Motion and toggle on Reduce Motion.
7. Free up space on your iPhone
If none of the above steps help to speed up your iPhone, your device storage may be too full and could do with some clearing.
To find out how much space you have left, go to Settings → General → iPhone Storage.
I recommend getting rid of apps you no longer need and clearing out big files such as videos, photos, and music. Check out this post for more tips to free up space on your iPhone.
8. Reset to factory settings
Still haven’t been able to make your iPhone run faster? Try resetting it to the factory default. Please note that this will erase all your data and set up your iPhone ‘like new.’ So it’s essential to backup your iPhone first.
- Go to Settings → General.
- Reset → Erase All Content and Settings.
- You’ll have to enter your Apple ID and password to confirm the process.
Your iPhone will be wiped and return to the setup screen you saw when you first used the device. You can then restore your iPhone from a backup.
Your iPhone can slow down for multiple reasons, but it’s usually possible to give it a speed boost with the tips mentioned above. In case nothing works for you, contact Apple Support for further assistance. Let me know in the comments below if you’re looking for any other iPhone tips.
You may also read here:
I am using an old version of the iPhone, the iPhone7. Due to some beta apps, my device keeps lagging or sometimes slow in response.
Thankfully, my boyfriend is tech-savvy, and he said I need to read this article or use AceThinker Fone Keeper to guide me on how to fix the issue. Well, they worked on my end.