Does iOS 26's Adaptive Power Mode work? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
ZDNET's key takeaways
The new Adaptive Power Mode in iOS 26 seems to noticeably improve battery life.
The performance hit from activating this feature appears to be negligible.
Be aware, though, that the iOS 26 public beta seems quite crashy right now.
One of the features that I've been testing out in the public beta of iOS 26 is Adaptive Power. This is a feature that monitors battery usage, and when it is higher than usual, the system makes small performance tweaks to extend battery life.
Also: You can download iOS 26 public beta right now - how to install (and which iPhones support it)
But is it worth trading performance for battery life and is there actually any noticeable change to battery life or performance?
I decided to find out. I switched on the feature -- you can find this in iOS 26 by tapping on Settings, then Battery, followed by Power Mode -- and saw what would happen.
Adaptive Power Mode tweaks performance features to eke out a bit more battery life. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
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