Being a 5-year old device, it’s remarkable for the iPhone 5s to still run on the latest version of iOS. In the Android world, you don’t get quality software updates after 2-3 years. But iOS 12 is a very exciting update which boosts performance on all supported devices.

At WWDC 2018 when Apple first announced iOS 12, it mentioned that the new software is almost twice as fast than iOS 11 and the previous versions, in certain areas. Like opening an app and multitasking on iOS 12 is 40% faster than previous iOS versions. Also, launching the camera, keyboard and share menu is more than 2X faster on the new software.

For older iPhone models like iPhone 5s, iOS 12 is a boon. However, if your iPhone 5s is working slow after installing iOS 12, the issue is most likely with the apps installed on your iPhone. If you try iOS 12 on a factory reset iPhone 5s, it’ll run very fast.

Try to clean up your device of unused apps and data to speed things up. If your iPhone is running low on storage, clear some storage space as well. iOS 12 is designed to speed up your iPhone, so you shouldn’t be seeing a degraded performance on your iPhone 5s after installing it.

If nothing helps, starting with a fresh installation of iOS 12 on iPhone 5s will definitely make your device run faster. We know it’s not the best tip to fix an iPhone running slow, but it always works. You may have to go through a bit of trouble to get everything set up again, but it worth the effort.

Below is a quick guide to reset your iPhone 5s on iOS 12. After the reset, either start fresh or restore your iTunes or iCloud backup. But remember, restoring might bring the problem back and slow down your iPhone 5s. You should definitely try restoring, but if the problem persists do a factory reset again and don’t restore any backup.

How to fix slow iPhone 5s on iOS 12

  1. Make sure you backup your iPhone via iTunes or iCloud.
  2. Go to Settings » General.
  3. Select Reset.
  4. Tap Erase All Content and Settings. If you took an iTunes backup, tap Erase Now. Else, select Finish Uploading Then Erase.