Apple iOS 26 update: New AI feature boosts iPhone battery life

It's been a week since Apple rolled out the major iOS 26 update to all eligible iPhones around the world.

To the general public, the company had highlighted only the key new features such as an all-new Liquid Glass user interface, live language translation, new visual intelligence capabilities and more.

However, iOS 26 has several value-added features that can really improve in user experience on older iPhones. Among them, the AI-based Adaptive Power Management feature promises to improve the battery life of the device.

Once turned on, Adaptive Power can lower screen brightness, limit background activity, and make performance adjustments to conserve power throughout the day. It can also automatically turn on Low Power Mode when the iPhone's battery reaches the 20 per cent mark.

While the Adaptive Power feature is turned on by default on all the newly launched iPhone Air, iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max, for older devices, it has to be activated manually.

It should be noted that this AI-based Adaptive Power feature is available only on devices which support Apple Intelligence.

Adaptive Power mode on iPhone.

List of iPhone models that support Adaptive Power are iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, 16e, iPhone 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max.

Here's how to enable the Adaptive Power feature on older iPhone models:

Step 1: Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.

Step 2: Tap Battery, tap Power Mode, then turn Adaptive Power on or off.

Users can get notifications when Adaptive Power turns on during the day:

Step 1: Go to the Settings app, tap Battery, tap Power Mode, then turn Adaptive Power Notifications on or off.

Even if the user turns off notifications, Adaptive Power continues to help extend the battery life.

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