iPhone Slow After an iOS Update? Try These Settings to Speed It Up
Did your iPhone suddenly feel slower after installing the latest iOS update? Apps may take longer to open, animations may feel sluggish, the battery may drain faster, or your iPhone may feel warmer than usual.
Don’t panic. This doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong with your iPhone.
After a major iOS update, your iPhone may perform several background tasks such as indexing photos and files, optimizing apps, updating search data, and completing other system processes. Performance and battery life can temporarily be affected.
If your iPhone continues to feel slow, here are a few settings you can check.
1. Turn Off Background App Refresh
Background App Refresh allows apps to update their content even when you’re not actively using them. Having many apps refreshing in the background can use additional battery, data, and system resources.
Go to:
Settings → General → Background App Refresh
You can turn Background App Refresh OFF completely, or disable it individually for apps that don’t need to constantly update in the background.
For many users, limiting Background App Refresh can also help improve battery life.
2. Turn Off Apple Intelligence If You Don’t Need It
On compatible iPhone models, Apple Intelligence features can use on-device processing and system resources.
If you don’t regularly use Apple Intelligence features, you can try disabling them and see whether your everyday experience improves.
Go to:
Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri
Review the available Apple Intelligence settings and turn off features you don’t need.
Keep in mind that menu names and available options can vary depending on your iPhone model and iOS version.
3. Turn On Reduce Motion
If your iPhone feels sluggish when opening apps or moving between screens, reducing animations can make the interface feel faster and more responsive.
Go to:
Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Reduce Motion
Turn Reduce Motion ON.
This doesn’t increase the iPhone processor’s actual speed, but reducing animations can make navigation feel noticeably quicker, especially on older iPhones.
4. Review Siri & Search Suggestions
iOS uses Siri and search-related features to provide suggestions throughout the operating system. If you don’t use these features, you can review which suggestions are enabled.
Depending on your iOS version, go to:
Settings → Siri / Apple Intelligence & Siri
Review the suggestion and search options and disable the ones you don’t need.
We recommend changing only features you understand rather than turning off every privacy or system setting.
5. Charge Your iPhone Before Installing a Major iOS Update
Before installing a major iOS update, make sure your iPhone has plenty of battery power or keep it connected to a reliable charger.
You don’t necessarily need exactly 100% battery to safely update your iPhone. The important thing is to make sure the device has sufficient power and won’t unexpectedly shut down during the installation.
It is also a good idea to:
- Back up your important data before a major update.
- Use a stable Wi-Fi connection.
- Make sure sufficient storage space is available.
- Avoid interrupting the phone while the update is installing.
- Use a reliable charger and charging cable if external power is needed.
Give Your iPhone Some Time After the Update
If you just updated your iPhone and immediately notice additional heat, battery drain, or slower performance, give the device some time.
After an update, iOS may continue performing background optimization and indexing. Depending on the device and the amount of data stored on it, this can temporarily affect performance.
Restarting your iPhone after the update has completed can also be helpful.
Still Slow? Check Your Battery Health
If your iPhone is several years old and remains slow well after the update, the problem may not be iOS alone.
Check:
Settings → Battery → Battery Health & Charging
An aging or degraded battery can affect the overall experience, and iOS may manage performance under certain battery conditions to prevent unexpected shutdowns.
Low available storage can also cause problems. Check:
Settings → General → iPhone Storage
Consider removing unnecessary videos, downloads, unused apps, and other large files if your storage is almost full.
iPhone Still Slow After Updating? Visit Phone Chek in Brampton
If your iPhone is still slow, overheating, restarting, draining the battery quickly, or experiencing display problems after an iOS update, Phone Chek Professional Smartphone Repair in Brampton can help diagnose the problem.
Sometimes an issue that appears immediately after an iOS update may actually be related to an aging battery, insufficient storage, a damaged component, or another hardware or software problem.
At Phone Chek, we can inspect your iPhone and help determine whether the problem is software-related or requires hardware repair.
Phone Chek Professional Smartphone Repair
143 Clarence Street, Unit #12
Brampton, ON L6W 1T2
Call: 905-226-1789
Serving Brampton and surrounding GTA customers with professional smartphone repair, diagnostics, battery replacement, screen repair, charging-port repair, and more.
Before replacing your iPhone because it became slow after an iOS update, have the device properly diagnosed. A few settings—or a worn battery—may be all that needs attention.