Is your iPhone still fully functional? With Apple Diagnostics in iOS 18 you can check the hardware yourself. We’ll show you how that works!
Apple Diagnostics: check the hardware of your iPhone
Since the end of September, it has been possible for everyone to start a hardware diagnosis on an iPhone that is compatible with iOS 18. This is useful if, for example, you have dropped your iPhone and you are not sure whether there is (internal) damage. To launch Apple Diagnostics on your iPhone, follow the steps below. Keep the password of your WiFi network at hand!
- Turn off your iPhone and wait at least 30 seconds;
- Hold down both volume buttons while connecting your iPhone to a charger of at least 18 watts;
- When the Apple logo appears, release the volume buttons;
- If all goes well, ‘Diagnostics & Repair’ will appear on the screen;
- Tap ‘Continue’, choose your Wi-Fi network and enter the password;
- Tap ‘Run Diagnostics’.
You can check this in Apple Diagnostics
Once you open Apple Diagnostics, you can choose from six tests: ‘Mobile Resource Inspector‘ for software problems and some tests specialized in certain hardware components: ‘Audio for Self-Service Repair‘, ‘Display Pixel Anomalies‘, ‘Multi Touch‘, ‘Face ID‘ and ‘Camera Image Quality”.
The tests take a few minutes, after which the results are displayed. The ‘Mobile Resource Inspector’ tests all possible software modules placed on the hardware: Apple Pay, Battery Disclaimer, Bluetooth, Camera, Cellular Baseband, Cellular RF, Display, eSIM, Face ID, MagSafe, Sensors, System, WiFi and Wireless Charging. When testing the battery condition, you can also check the number of cycles and the maximum battery capacity.
More about the different tests
Other tests work in a similar way: with multi-touch, for example, you also have to move your finger across the screen to identify dead zones. The same procedure can be found under ‘Display Pixel Anomalies’. The Face ID test requires you to hold your iPhone in front of your face for about 50 seconds, but that’s understandable because the sensors are in and around the Facetime camera and need to measure the face.
The camera test asks you to take photos with every available camera. The test checks the cameras and sees if any artifacts appear in the photos. Normally you get green check marks on all tests, indicating that everything is fine. In the image below there is only a question mark next to ‘Software’. This is because the update to iOS 18.2.1 has not yet been installed on this iPhone.
If you want to close Apple Diagnostics again, tap the three dots at the top right. There you simply tap ‘Exit Diagnostics’ and then tap ‘Exit’ at the bottom of the screen. Your iPhone will now restart automatically.
If you notice something strange about your iPhone, in most cases the cause is a software error. In general, Apple will resolve this with one of the next updates. But that is of course different if there is something wrong with the hardware. When Apple places a heavy burden on the battery with an update, you may wonder whether the battery needs to be replaced. It is all the more convenient that you can check yourself via Apple Diagnostics whether it is really necessary.
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