iPhone Slow? What’s in iOS 11 Performance?

Is Apple slowing down my iPhone with iOS 11 to force me to upgrade to iPhone 8? It’s a common question and perhaps one of the biggest iPhone conspiracies. If you are considering installing the iOS 11 update or already iOS 11, you may start to feel that your iPhone is slower than before.

Every year, with the new iOS update coming, we see a spike in social media complaints and iPhone searches from users who think their iPhones are slower. It’s already one of the most common iOS 11 update questions we’ve seen online.

https://twitter.com/alexmerman/status/908386372247068672

Many users think that Apple deliberately slowed down the iPhone with iOS 11 to entice users to buy an iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X. Apple’s iOS 11 update is coming to older devices that are part of this issue, but it’s a concern even for iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 owners.

Here’s what people had to say about iOS 11 slowing down their iPhone while using iOS 11 GM. This is the same version of the software that Apple released this week. We will also show you how to fix some iOS 11 and slow iPhone problems.

Usually your iPhone will be slow for a day or so while working behind the scenes on tasks after installing a major iOS update, but this should be fixed within 24 hours. You may also find that iPhone slows down due to outdated apps, bad network connection, and other issues. iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7 users started complaining that iOS 11 is slowing down their iPhone.

Slow iPhone Conspiracy

Back in September when Apple released the new iPhone and a major iOS update, we were seeing huge search spikes for the Slow iPhone and iPhone Slow. There are still many users who think that Apple deliberately slows down the iPhone to entice them to upgrade to a new phone.

Transition to the final Beta of iOS 11. That’s the two-year mark on my phone, so it’s time for it to slow down inexplicably.

— Elliott Lockwood (@elliottlockwood) September 15, 2017

Often times this is called planned obsolescence, and it’s a real thing, but it’s not clear what Apple is doing. From a physical standpoint, the iPhone battery won’t last as long after a year as it did on the first day because batteries degrade over time. The iPhone battery, in particular, loses about 20% of its capacity after 400 charges.

It’s unlikely that Apple will deliberately slow down the iPhone every fall. The hardware cannot provide the same speed when dealing with newer software and more demanding applications. Instead of slowing down your iPhone, Apple limits the features coming to older phones, which drives the upgrade process.

iOS 11 Performance

https://twitter.com/camwhaler/status/907692220295282694

Overall we saw good iOS 11 performance on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s, as well as some older devices. We’re testing iOS 11 GM on a number of other iPhones and iPads to see what we find. While there are iOS 11 issues, the biggest complaint we’ve heard this year isn’t slow performance.

Watch this iOS 9.3.5 and iOS 11 speed test to see how the iPhone 6S handles iOS 11 versus legacy software. The iOS 11 powered iPhone 6s boots much slower, but is pretty fast overall.

You can also see how well iOS 11 performs on the iPhone 5s compared to iOS 9.3.5. Once again it takes longer to start iOS 11. The upside is that most of us don’t reboot the phone multiple times a day.

The iPhone 5s iOS 11 update is where we’re starting to see a slower iPhone. Animations are sometimes slower and apps load slower overall. This includes Maps, News, and other stock Apple apps you’ll use every day. While scrolling appeared smoother in iOS 11 on the iPhone 5s, the app started slower and loaded slower. We also see that iOS 11 performance is slower in Mail on iOS 11.

How to Fix Slow iOS 11 Performance

Fortunately, there are some solutions for a slow iPhone in iOS 11, and few are easy to do. You don’t need to wipe your iPhone for all of them, but this is the worst case solution to get better iOS 11 performance.

reset all settings

The first thing you should try is resetting all your phone settings. This means changing some of your settings back and reconnecting to WiFi and Bluetooth, but it won’t delete your apps, data, music or photos. This takes about 3-5 minutes and while this is happening you won’t be able to use your iPhone.

go

Once your phone restarts sign in, reconnect to WiFi and Bluetooth devices and start using your iPhone. This should fix many slow iPhone issues without taking any more drastic steps.

Fix slow iPhone performance in iOS 11.

Completely Reset Your iPhone

Sometimes you need to reset your iPhone and start from scratch. This option will factory reset your iPhone in iOS 11. You can choose to restore a backup that may or may not bring back any issues, or you can start from scratch and reinstall the apps you want and need. Make sure you have a good backup before proceeding with these options.

go

When your iPhone restarts, it will prompt you to go through the setup and you can restore from a backup or start as a new iPhone. This process takes at least 5-10 minutes and may take longer. If you choose to restore from a backup, which will take much longer. You cannot use your iPhone during the reset process.

Downgrade to iOS 10.3.

If all else fails, you can upgrade to iOS 10.3. This is normally open for a week or two after the iOS 11 release date, so you’ll need to act quickly if you’re worried.

You can only upgrade to the latest version of iOS 10, so you don’t need to revert to iOS 9.3.5 or a jailbreakable version of iOS 10. If you think you want to do this, don’t hesitate. You can always try iOS 11 again when iOS 11.0.1 or iOS 11.1 comes out this year, but once that happens you can’t go back to iOS 10.