How to Speed Up iOS 16 Slow Performance

Want to know how you can speed up iOS 16 slow performance?

Ever since iOS 16 was released, Apple has been working 24/7 to address bugs and issues by releasing frequent updates. However, some users are reporting slower performance on iOS 16 compared to previous versions, causing some fans to hold back in updating their devices. 

Unfortunately, it might be too late for you to go back to previous versions if you’ve already updated your iPhone or iPad. 

Most of the time, slow performance on new versions of iOS is quite normal and your phone should return to normal after a few days. However, this issue can also be due to third-party apps, improper configurations, or corrupted data. 

In this guide, we will show you what to do to speed up iOS 16 slow performance. 

Let’s begin!

1. Restart Your Device. 

When you encounter performance issues on your iPad or iPhone, the first thing you should do is give it a simple restart. This should clear your temporary caches and reload your resources, ensuring there are no temporary errors or bugs on your system. 

For iPhone X, 11, 12, or later: 

  1. Hold down the Volume Down button and Side button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears. 
  2. Now, drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds. 
  3. Press the Side button afterward to turn on your device. 
Restart iPhone

For iPhone 6, 7, 8, or SE: 

  1. Locate the Power button on your device. 
  2. Now, hold the button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt shows up.
  3. Drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds before turning on your device. 
Force Restart

For iPads without a home button: 

  1. First, press and hold either the Volume button + Top button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears. 
  2. Now, drag the slider to the right until your display shuts off. 
  3. Lastly, wait for at least 30 seconds before turning on your iPad. 
ios 16 slow performance

For iPads with a home button: 

  1. On your device, press and hold the Top button until the power slider appears. 
  2. Drag the slider to the right until your display turns black. 
  3. Finally, wait for at least 30 seconds before restarting your iPad.
Restart iPad Home button

Once done, try using your device for a while to check if you’ll still encounter performance issues. 

2. Turn Off Unused Features. 

It’s convenient to leave all features on your device enabled since you don’t know when you’ll be needing them. However, this can affect the performance of your device and possibly cause it to heat up. 

Due to this, we recommend that you turn off unused features your device to save some resources and battery. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

  1. Swipe downwards from the right corner of your screen to access the Control Center
  2. Now, long press on the first set of controls (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc). 
  3. Finally, identify the features you are not using and turn them off. 
Control Center

Restart your device once more and check if its performance improved. 

3. Disable Location Services. 

Location services is a feature on your iPhone that improves its usability. It also enables applications to track your location and give you the best options based on your current location. 

However, this can also consume a lot of system resources and could cause your device to run slowly. To avoid issues, disable location services if you are not using it.

Here’s what you need to do: 

  1. First, go to your home screen and open Settings
  2. After that, tap on Privacy & Security
  3. Lastly, go to Location Services and disable the feature.
ios 16 slow performance

Alternatively, you can also choose which applications can access your location to save resources if you don’t want to feature to be disabled completely. 

4. Use Reduce Motion. 

If you are using an older iPhone or iPad model, it’s possible that the new animations of iOS 16 is putting a lot of load on your device, causing it to run slowly compared to previous versions. 

In this case, you can try using reduce motion to turn off window animations on your iPhone or iPad. 

Follow the steps below to enable the feature: 

  1. On your device, head to the home screen and tap on the Settings app to launch it. 
  2. Now, go to Accessibility > Motion
  3. Finally, look for the Reduce Motion feature and enable it. 
ios 16 slow performance

Restart your device and see if its performance improved. 

5. Close Unused Applications. 

There might be a lot of applications running on your iPhone or iPad causing it to throttle when you run new apps. While iOS has great RAM management, it can still struggle to run many applications at the same time. 

To fix this, swipe upwards from the bottom of your display until the application switcher shows up. Now, identify the apps you are not using and flick them upwards to remove them from the list. 

Once done, use your device as you would and observe if you’ll still encounter slow performance on iOS 16. 

6. Update Applications. 

You can also try updating applications on your device if you still encounter performance issues. There’s a good chance that some of your applications are not yet optimized for iOS 16, causing them to perform poorly. 

Check out the steps below to update your apps: 

  1. Go to the home screen and tap on the App Store to launch it. 
  2. Now, tap on your Profile icon in the upper right corner. 
  3. Scroll down and look for the apps you usually use. 
  4. Tap the Update button beside them to download the latest version. 
Update iOS

Use your iPhone or iPad for a few minutes and see if you’ll still encounter slow performance on iOS 16. 

7. Offload Applications. 

iOS has a feature that allows you to offload applications that you are not using while still retaining their data. You can try offloading some apps on your device and see if its performance improves. 

Here’s how you can offload apps:

  1. First, head to Settings on your iPhone or iPad
  2. After that, navigate to General > iPhone Storage
  3. Identify the apps you are not using and tap on them. 
  4. Lastly, tap Offload App and repeat the process until you’ve offloaded all apps you are not using. 
Offload Apps

Once done, restart your iPhone or iPad and see if its performance improved. 

8. Remove iPhone Case. 

If you notice performance dips while playing games or editing videos on your iPhone or iPad, there’s a good chance that it is thermal throttling. This is normal behavior on any device to prevent itself from overheating or failing. 

To avoid thermal throttling on your device, remove any protective case you have during long gaming sessions or when editing videos. 

9. Update Your Device. 

Apple is known to release frequent updates on their devices to keep them in top form and patch issues. Possibly, the version of iOS you’re using has an underlying issue that prevents your device from performing well. 

To rule this out, check if there are available updates for your device and install them. Here’s what you need to do: 

  1. First, open the Settings app on your iOS device. 
  2. After that, go to General > Software Updates
  3. If there’s an available update, tap on Download and Install and follow the prompts. 
ios 16 slow performance

To keep your device up to date, enable Automatic Updates. Use your iPhone or iPad as you normally would and observe if you’d still encounter performance issues. 


10. Disable Background App Refresh. 

When you switch from one app to another, it is put in a suspended state, preventing it from consuming system resources. With background app refresh, suspended apps can still check for updates and new content using your cellular data or WiFi connection. 

This can cause your device to slow down if your applications check for updates at the same time. To prevent this from happening, we recommend turning off background app refresh on your device. 

However, keep in mind that this will stop push notifications on your device and could cause you to miss important notifications. 

See the steps below to guide you through the process:

  1. First, open Settings on your iOS device. 
  2. Now, go to General and tap on Background App Refresh
  3. Lastly, disable the feature or decide which applications can access the feature by tapping the toggle switch beside them. 
ios 16 slow performance

Restart your device and check if the problem is solved. 

11. Reset Your Settings. 

Some configurations on your device might not be set properly, causing your iPhone or iPad to perform poorly. To rule this out, we recommend resetting your iOS device’s settings back to default. 

See the steps below to reset your settings: 

  1. On your device, head to the Settings app. 
  2. Next, tap on General and look for Transfer or Reset iPhone/iPad
  3. Access the tab and tap on Reset
  4. Finally, choose Reset All Settings and follow the prompts. 
ios 16 slow performance

Your iPhone or iPad will restart several times during this process. Once done, continue using your device normally and check if you’ll encounter performance issues. 

That wraps up our guide on how to speed up iOS 16 slow performance. If you have questions or any other concerns, please let us know in the comment section, and we’ll do our best to answer them. 

If this guide helped you, please share it.

Author

  • Jake Kovoor

    Jake is the Editor-in-Chief of Saint and an independent software developer, with a Bachelors in Computer Science from Lancaster University, UK. He loves trying out various tech from the Flipper Zero to coding Raspberry Pis for automation. He started Saint back in 2016, having written over 100 posts, with the sole purpose of creating guides for software that had yet to exist back then to help users navigate around their technical problems.

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