React applications can suffer from performance issues due to unnecessary render cycles and deep component trees, but tools like the React Developer Tools Chrome extension can help diagnose these issues by highlighting component updates with color codes based on frequency. While blue indicates infrequent updates, colors progressing to red show increased frequency, which is expected during certain interactions like slider adjustments but can signal inefficiencies when triggered by simple actions. For production environments, where the React Developer Tools are not applicable, tools like LogRocket offer a comprehensive solution by recording user sessions, performance data, and network activity, enabling developers to replay and diagnose issues effectively. The article emphasizes using these diagnostic tools to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in React applications, with interactive demos provided to illustrate their application.