Technologies

Adaptive Power in iOS 26 Could Mean Longer Stretches Between iPhone Charges

Who doesn’t want more battery life in their phone? This low-level feature works quietly in the background without you needing to do anything special.

The upcoming iOS 26 includes several new features I’m looking forward to running on my iPhone, from the Liquid Glass interface to new ways to cut down on unwanted calls and messages. But one feature I can’t wait to turn on will hopefully be something I can forget about. A new Adaptive Power setting promises to extend battery power by selectively applying energy savings in small ways that add up. It’s currently available in the iOS 26 developer beta and is expected to ship in the fall.

See also: Adaptive Power in iOS 26 Could Save the iPhone 17 Air From This Major Pitfall

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%.

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 make small performance adjustments to extend your battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to take a little longer. Low Power Mode may turn on at 20%.»

How to turn adaptive power on

Adaptive Power is not on by default and you’ll need to opt-in to use it. In iOS 26, you’ll find the Adaptive Power toggle in Settings > Battery > Power Mode.

Since Adaptive Power appears to be using AI in deciding which settings and processes to adjust, I suspect the feature will be available on iPhone models that support Apple Intelligence, which include the iPhone 15 Pro and later. A Reddit thread about Adaptive Power suggests this is the case, with commenters noting it does not show up in iPhone 13 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro models with the beta installed.

Adaptive Power sounds like an outgrowth of Gaming Mode, introduced in iOS 18, which routes all available processing and graphics power to the frontmost app and pauses other processes in order to deliver the best experience possible — at the notable expense of battery life.

What does this mean for your charging habits?

Although we all want as much battery life as possible all the time, judging by the description it sounds as if Adaptive Power’s optimizations will not always be active, even if you leave the feature on. «When your battery usage is higher than usual» could include a limited number of situations. Still, considering that according to a CNET survey 61% of people upgrade their phones because of battery life, a feature such as Adaptive Power could extend the longevity of their phones just by updating to iOS 26.

I also wonder whether slightly adjusting display brightness could be disruptive. But because the feature is also selectively de-prioritizing processing tasks, it suggests that the outward effects will be minimal.

We’ll know more about how well Adaptive Power works as the iOS 26 beta program nears the expected release date in September or October — battery optimizations are often the last tweaks to be made to operating systems in development just before shipping. If you want to start giving iOS 26 a spin, you can download the first developer beta now; a public beta is expected this month. Just remember that beta software carries risks, especially these first iterations that have recently been set loose from Apple’s labs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, July 13

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 13.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is a little meta. Two clues refer to Wordle, another super-popular game from The New York Times. We have answers for that puzzle, too. In fact, iff you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Gibbon or gorilla
Answer: APE

4A clue: Bird whose name is an excellent starting guess in Wordle, according to WordleBot
Answer: CRANE

6A clue: Cry from a judge
Answer: ORDER

7A clue: Family nickname that would make a terrible starting guess in Wordle
Answer: MAMMA

8A clue: «Hooray!»
Answer: YAY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Widespread display
Answer: ARRAY

2D clue: Lakshmi who was a longtime host of «Top Chef»
Answer: PADMA

3D clue: «Don’t let perfect be the ___ of good» (aphorism)
Answer: ENEMY

4D clue: URL ending
Answer: COM

5D clue: Historical period
Answer: ERA

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 13, #293

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 13, No. 293

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has some fun categories. There’s only one requiring last names, and one requiring teams, so if you can sort those easily, you should be in good shape. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Bad news for a golfer.

Green group hint: Aries animal.

Blue group hint: Think California capital city.

Purple group hint: No charge.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Mess up a golf shot.

Green group: Rams

Blue group: Sacramento Kings greats.

Purple group: Free ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is mess up a golf shot. The four answers are duff, flub, mishit and shank.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is rams. The four answers are Colorado State, Los Angeles, Rhode Island and VCU.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Sacramento Kings greats. The four answers are Divac, Richmond, Stojaković and Webber.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is free ____. The four answers are agent, kick, safety and throw.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 13, #1485

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 13, No. 1,485.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word, but not easy to guess. That first letter doesn’t come up in any of the starter or secondary words I tend to choose. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.