When Apple announced the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air earlier this month, it touted improved battery life across the board and "all-day" battery for the iPhone Air, which has a physically smaller battery to fit inside its thin design. Some of that is due to physically larger batteries, but a new feature called Adaptive Power in iOS 26 is also contributing. And it's available on any iPhone capable of running Apple Intelligence.
Currently, the iPhone uses as much power as it needs to perform its tasks. You can extend the battery life by doing a number of things, such as decreasing screen brightness and turning off the always-on display. Or, if your battery level is starting to get dire, you can activate Low Power Mode, which reduces background activity like fetching mail and downloading data in addition to those screen adjustments. Low Power Mode also kicks in automatically when the battery level reaches 20%.
Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
If Low Power Mode is the hammer that knocks down power consumption, Adaptive Power is the scalpel that intelligently trims energy savings here and there as needed. Based on Apple's description that accompanies the control, the savings will be felt mostly in power-hungry situations such as recording videos, editing photos or perhaps even playing games:
"When your battery usage is higher than usual, iPhone can extend your battery life by making performance adjustments, such as lowering display brightness, allowing some activities to take longer, or turning on Low Power Mode at 20%."
Apple says Adaptive Power takes about a week to analyze your usage behavior before it begins actively working. It works in the background without needing any management on your part. The iPhone user guide describes it as follows: "It uses on-device intelligence to predict when you'll need extra battery power based on your recent usage patterns, then makes performance adjustments to help your battery last longer."
Watch this: I'm Impressed With iOS 26. Apple Just Made iPhones Better 05:40
Which iPhone models can use Adaptive Power?
The feature uses AI to monitor and choose when its power-saving measures should be activated, so that means only phones compatible with Apple Intelligence get the feature. These are the models that have the option:
• iPhone 17
... continue reading