Apple iPhone 8 Plus troubleshooting

Published specification

What is true of this model and changes how you fix it

• What owners run into
  Wi-Fi that drops or will not join, a battery that is long past its life, a home button that stops reading fingerprints and cracked back glass. The phone is old enough that repairs, not software, solve most faults.
• How to approach a fault
  Forget and rejoin Wi-Fi, reset network settings, and check Battery Health. If the Wi-Fi switch is gray, a hardware fault is likely.
• Repairs and parts
  A new battery is the most useful repair. The home button is paired to the phone, so a replacement from another phone loses Touch ID unless Apple's own repair is used.
• Selling or recycling
  Sign out of your Apple Account, turn off Find My and erase the phone before passing it on.
• Software and apps on an older iPhone
  The newest iOS releases and many apps no longer support the iPhone 8 Plus, so you may see a message that an app needs a newer iOS, or an app that crashes because it was built for newer hardware. Keep the phone on the latest iOS it can run and update the apps that still support it. Safari and Messages continue to work well, but heavy apps and games feel slow because the A11 chip is old. If an app you need no longer runs, an older version cannot be installed from the App Store, so decide whether the phone still suits you. A new battery is the best single upgrade to the feel of the phone, and Apple's Battery Health page tells you whether it is due.
• Where this phone stands today
  The iPhone 8 Plus is a 2017 phone with a home button, a Touch ID fingerprint reader and a Lightning port, and it can no longer take the newest iOS releases, so some apps stop supporting it and some faults cannot be fixed by a software update. A battery that has lost capacity is the most common reason owners think the phone is failing: in Settings, Battery, Battery Health, a maximum capacity well below eighty percent means a battery replacement will make it feel like a new phone, and Apple and independent repairers both offer it. A phone that overheats while charging, shuts down at a high percentage or swells at the back needs attention soon.
• Keeping it useful
  Free up storage, since an older phone with a nearly full drive slows down, remove apps you no longer use and clear the Safari cache. Back up to iCloud or a computer before any repair, and keep the Touch ID sensor clean, since a dirty home button misreads fingers. If you plan to sell or give the phone away, sign out of your Apple Account, turn off Find My and erase it through Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, which removes your data and the activation lock.

Manufacturer support for this product line. Apple Support — Apple product support. Official Apple model, operating-system, repair, connection and settings guidance.

Also read for this model. Apple Support — iPhone Support.