Are you tired of the sluggish charging speed of your iPhone? Well, you're not alone. We've all been there, anxiously staring at our devices, hoping they will charge faster. This is especially frustrating when we're pressed for time and need a fully charged phone.
Normally, an iPhone can power up from zero to 50% in roughly 30 minutes using a fast charger and achieve a full charge within 1-3 hours. However, if your iPhone is slow to charge or fails to top up completely, this could indicate a problem.
Checking your battery's health is a great first step. If you notice your battery is struggling, it might be time for a battery replacement.
There are several common reasons your iPhone may be charging more slowly than you'd like. They include:
Charging your iPhone might seem straightforward, but a few tweaks can significantly speed up the process. When your phone is charging slowly, try these strategies to help your iPhone power up quicker and troubleshoot the most common iPhone charging issues.
When charging your iPhone, it is always best to opt for a wall plug instead of USB ports on computers or laptops. Wall plugs provide a direct and consistent power supply, enabling your device to charge at its optimal speed. On the other hand, USB ports typically deliver a lower charging current, resulting in longer charge times.
If you're serious about reducing your charging time, it might be worth considering investing in a fast charger. Faster chargers are specifically made to deliver a higher power output, powering your device at a much faster rate compared to standard chargers. With a fast charger, you can bid farewell to those never-ending charging sessions.
The first thing to try if your iPhone is charging slowly is turning it off and back on. Then try charging your iPhone again.
If your device doesn't respond, tryforcing it to restart.
Look at your charging cable to see if it's loose, unplugged, or damaged. If it's frayed or the connector is bent, this could be the reason your iPhone is charging slowly.
To know for sure, try charging your phone with a friend's cable. If the borrowed cord works better, it's time to replace your cable.
If the cable isn't the issue, it could be your charger or the outlet. Plug your charger into a different outlet to see if your device will charge more quickly.If that doesn't work, use another charger—and make sure it's approved by Apple®.
If you've been charging your iPhone wirelessly (iPhone 8 or later versions support wireless charging), try plugging your device into a power source with your cable and see if it will charge faster. If you're using a wireless charging case for an older model, remove your device from the case and use a charger and cable plugged into a wall outlet.
If your device's port is clogged with dirt and debris, it may make your iPhone charge very slowly. If the port is dusty, check out our charging port cleaning guide to clear it out in a few simple steps. If the charging port appears to be damaged, contact an expert for help.
One way to make your iPhone charge faster is to turn on Airplane Mode before plugging in your device. This setting helps your phone charge more quickly by turning off your device's connection to mobile and Wi-Fi networks, which burn energy and drain the battery.
Turning off your iPhone completely before charging it should speed up the process even more.
If your device has been sitting in direct sunlight or feels hot to the touch, try removing the case and placing it in a cool area before you charge it. Heat can damage your battery and hinder its ability to charge. If your phone stops charging at 80%, for instance, your device is likely protecting itself and will resume charging once it's cooled down.
Updating your iOS® operating system will keep your iPhone charging quickly and working properly.
Slow charging speed can be a frustrating issue. Fortunately, you can employ the methods mentioned above to make your iPhone charge faster. Next time you are anxiously waiting for your iPhone to charge, try out these suggestions and see the difference for yourself. Remember, not all solutions work for everyone. Try different combinations and find what works best for you.
Do you ever notice your iPhone becoming slow or sluggish while launching an app, browsing the internet, or switching between apps? This is annoying to say the least, because it messes with your workflow, making it take far longer than usual to finish everyday tasks.
Ever wonder why your iPhone isn't running as fast as it used to? Here are a few speed bumps that might be slowing you down.
Photos, apps, downloads—all of these files take up space. When your storage is at max capacity, your phone can start running slowly. Need help freeing up your slow phone's storage? Check out our guide.
Your iPhone's battery can start to wear out. A tired battery might not just mean more frequent charging; it can also lead to sluggishness, overheating, and crashes.
Want to learn more? Read our guide to learn how to check your iPhone’s battery health.
Apps are great—until they're not. They can freeze, move between pages slowly, and everything in between.
Although iPhones are known for their reliable performance, data accumulation and resource-intensive apps eventually cause them to become sluggish and make them lag. Maintaining your iPhone’s performance is crucial for both speed and longevity. Thus, to help you get things back on track, here are some simple steps to quickly boost your iPhone’s performance and help it run smoothly and efficiently once more.
Simple tips to give your iPhone a quick performance boost
Here are some of the common ways you can get your iPhone’s performance back to the way it was:
It might be time for a digital declutter. Offload unused apps and give your photos a new home in the cloud or on a computer. You’ll notice a little breathing room can go a long way.
When an app freezes, double-tap your home button or swipe up from the bottom. Swipe the apps away then try opening them again to see if your iPhone continues moving slowly.
Sometimes your phone’s network signal—or lack of one—can be the problem. If that’s the case, sometimes a simple reset can help.
Still stuck? You might just be in a low-coverage zone.
The battery inside your iPhone could be to blame—or at least putting a strain on your phone. When your battery starts to fail, your phone starts to feel it in other places, like processing speed. Check your battery health and determine if a battery replacement is just the thing your iPhone needs.
Poor network connections can make even simple tasks like browsing or sending messages feel like a marathon.
With these simple tips and tricks, you can ensure you keep your iPhone running smoothly and efficiently as ever, allowing for fast, uninterrupted workflows at all times.
One of the scariest — and most troubling — iPhone problems is when your phone will not charge. But don't panic. There are some fairly mundane reasons why this might happen, and they're generally easy to solve.
On the other hand, keep in mind that to do something even as simple as charge your phone, there are a lot of parts that need to work together — so to figure out what is to blame and to get things working properly, you should methodically test everything to eliminate potential problems one at a time.
Quick tip: Should you notice that your iPhone stops charging at 80%, you shouldn't stress. This is a feature in iOS 13 or later called Optimized Battery Charging.
If your iPhone charges with one cable, but not another, you know it's the cable. If your cable charges other phones but not your own, you know it's your phone. When your phone starts to charge again, whatever the last thing you changed was the problem — so you know what fixed your phone.
Anytime you are troubleshooting a problem, it helps to restart the system and see if that fixes the issue. If your phone still has enough battery life, restart the phone and then try to charge it again.
Note: If your phone battery is very, very low — under 5% — or already completely dead, this step will not work for you.
Start by making sure your phone is not charging. Connect your phone however you usually do to charge it — wirelessly, plugged into an AC adapter, plugged into a computer's USB port — and check the phone's display. If the battery is already dead, leave it to charge for about two hours and then check on it.
You should see a lightning bolt in or beside the battery icon at the top right of the iPhone's lock screen. If there is no lightning bolt in sight, it's not charging.
If you have an iPhone X or later that supports wireless charging — or you have a wireless charging case for an older model iPhone — let's simplify our troubleshooting by eliminating that as a possibility right away.
Remove the phone from its wireless charging case, if you're using one, and plug the phone into a power source with a Lightning cable. Again, check to see if it's charging. If it is, congratulations — you solved the problem. There's some sort of problem with the phone's wireless charging solution.
You might need to take your phone to an Apple store for service (or replace your wireless charging case) but in the meantime, you can keep the phone charged the old-fashioned way, with wires.
If your phone isn't charging the way it usually does, your next stop should be to inspect the Lightning port. This is a lot more common than you might think. After all, we spend a lot of time jamming the phone — port-end first — into pockets, bags, and other places filled with dust, debris, and lint.
Your phone's Lightning port is a veritable magnet for dirt, dust, lint, and other grime that can interfere with charging.
Look carefully, and if you see anything, carefully remove it — gently — with a toothpick or any other non-metallic, pointed object that will fit in the port. If you have a can of compressed air, briefly blast the port with that as well.
Try to charge the phone again. If it still doesn't work, move on to the next troubleshooting step.
If you've had an iPhone long enough, you've probably seen a broken or frayed cable — the rubberized outer sheath breaks from repeated bending, and the wires become exposed. If your cable looks like that and it isn't properly charging your device, throw it away and get a new cable.
But Lightning cables get a lot of abuse, and problems aren't always apparent to the naked eye. Sometimes wires can break while they're still inside the sheath. And inexpensive third-party Lightning cables have been known to spontaneously stop working, often because the power regulator chip inside the cable has failed.
There's no good way to see any of this visually, so the best way to test your Lightning cable is to simply try a different one.
Your Lightning cable should look like this — no fraying, sharp bends, or kinks that can damage the underlying wires.
On the long list of potential problems, you should also check your power source. If you're charging your iPhone from a computer's USB port, make sure the computer is fully awake (not in sleep or hibernation mode). Also try a different USB port, in case the USB port you were using has failed. Don't try charging from a USB port built into a keyboard or USB hub — connect it directly to a USB port on the computer itself.
If it still doesn't work, plug it directly into a wall outlet with an AC adapter like the one that came with your iPhone. If you have been using an AC adapter this entire time, then try a different one — borrow one from a friend who has an iPhone or use the one that comes with an iPad.
If you're not running the latest version of iOS, it could be the reason why your phone is not charging. Software updates might not seem important when your phone is functioning properly, but they help prevent a host of problems and even improve performance.
Here's how to check for an update on your iPhone and install it:
When experiencing a problem with your iPhone, it sometimes helps to perform a factory reset.
A reset will return it to its factory default settings and, hopefully, get rid of any problem you might be facing. This is a last-ditch attempt to fix the issue by yourself, and it's worth a try.
If none of these troubleshooting steps gets your phone back up and running, it's pretty likely that there's something wrong with the iPhone itself. You should contact Apple or go to an Apple store for service.