The iPhone 17 Pro Max’s battery is physically larger, said CNET editor-in-chief Patrick Holland. in his criticism that it offers “the best battery life of all phone that CNET has ever tested. iPhone models.
A new software feature in iOS26 called Adaptive Power also helps improve battery life. It is enabled by default on the latest Apple phones, but also available on older models that support Apple Intelligence.
Currently, the iPhone uses as much power as it needs to perform its tasks. You can extend battery life by do a certain number of thingssuch as lowering the screen brightness and turning off the always-on display. Or, if your battery is low, you can enable Low Power Mode, which limits background activities, like fetching mail and downloading data, and dims the screen to extend battery life. Low power mode also automatically activates when the battery level reaches 20%.
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If Low Power mode is the hammer that reduces power consumption, Adaptive Power is the scalpel that intelligently cuts power savings here and there as needed. According to Apple’s description that accompanies the control, the savings will mainly be felt in power-intensive situations such as recording videos, editing photos, or even gaming.
Apple says Adaptive Power takes about a week to analyze your usage behavior before it starts actively working. And it works in the background without any management on your part.
This is how Apple describes it in the iPhone user guide: “It uses device intelligence to predict when you’ll need extra battery based on your recent usage habits, then makes performance adjustments to help your battery last longer.”
Watch this: The iPhone 17 Pro Max has incredible battery life
What iPhone models can use Adaptive Power?
The feature uses AI to monitor and choose when its power-saving measures should be activated, meaning only phones compatible with Apple Intelligence benefit from this feature. Here are the models that have the option:
•iPhone 17
• iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max
• iPhone Air
• iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16e
• iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
Although some iPad and Mac models support Apple Intelligence, this feature is only available on iPhones.
How to enable adaptive power
Adaptive Power is enabled by default on iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For other models, you must choose to use it. In iOS 26, you’ll find the Adaptive Power toggle in Settings > Battery > Power mode. To be alerted when the feature is active, enable the Adaptive Power Notifications option.
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In iOS 26, enable the Adaptive Power setting to extend battery life.
Adaptive Power feels like an outgrowth of Gaming Mode, introduced in iOS 18, which routes all available processing and graphics power to the front-most app and pauses other processes in order to deliver the best possible experience – at a notable cost to battery life.
When iPhone is using Adaptive Power, a notification appears.
What does this mean for your charging habits?
While we all want to have as long a battery life as possible, judging from the description, it seems that Adaptive Power’s optimizations won’t always be active, even if you leave the feature enabled. “When battery usage is higher than usual” can include a limited number of situations. However, considering that according to CNET investigation61% of people upgrade their phones because of battery life, a feature like Adaptive Power could extend the longevity of their phone simply by updating to iOS 26.
I also wonder if a slight adjustment to the screen brightness might be disruptive, but in my experience so far it hasn’t been noticeable. Since the feature also selectively lowers the priority of processing tasks, external effects appear minimal. When enabled on my iPhone 16 Pro, the only indication was the Adaptive Power alert that appeared.
We’ll have a better idea of how Adaptive Power works as more people adopt iOS 26 and start purchasing new iPhone models. Also keep in mind that shortly after installing a major software update, it’s common for battery life to deteriorate as the system optimizes data in the background; Apple has gone so far as to remind customers that this is a temporary side effect.
