iPhone 17 and Air Ships with New Adaptive Power Battery Mode

Apple has officially launched iOS 26, bringing with it a host of new features—most notably a smarter way to save battery life. Alongside the classic Low Power Mode, the new Adaptive Power Mode makes its debut and is enabled by default on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, Pro Max, and iPhone Air.

What Is Adaptive Power Mode?

Adaptive Power is an Apple Intelligence-powered feature that works in the background to extend your iPhone’s battery life. Unlike Low Power Mode, which makes obvious cuts to performance and background activity, Adaptive Power operates subtly and intelligently—learning your usage patterns and stepping in only when extra battery life is likely needed.

How It Works

Apple says it takes about seven days of usage for Adaptive Power to fully understand your habits. Once active, it can:

• Make performance adjustments when safe

• Lower screen brightness by about 3%

• Limit background activity

• Trigger Low Power Mode at 20% battery

Importantly, Adaptive Power won’t interfere with demanding tasks like gaming or photography in Game Mode or Camera apps.

Enabled by Default on iPhone 17 Series

While the feature is optional, Apple has chosen to enable Adaptive Power by default on the iPhone 17 lineup and iPhone Air. This ensures that users start benefitting from the feature without any setup required.

A Smarter Way to Save Battery

If it works as designed, Adaptive Power should extend your battery life without noticeable compromises. For most users, this could mean fewer battery worries throughout the day—without having to remember to manually toggle Low Power Mode.