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The iOS 26 Feature Secretly Extending Your iPhone’s Battery Life

Adaptive Power is an Apple Intelligence feature that can automatically give your battery the boost it needs. Here’s how it works.

Battery life in the latest iPhone models is more important than ever, whether you’re taking advantage of the physically larger cells in the iPhone 17 Pro — the «best battery life of any phone that CNET has ever tested,» CNET Managing Editor Patrick Holland said in his review — or getting the most out of the thin battery in the iPhone Air. And software now also plays a big role.

A new feature in iOS 26 called Adaptive Power is enabled by default on Apple’s latest phones, but is 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 doing a number of things, such as decreasing screen brightness and turning off the always-on display. Or, if your battery is running low, you can turn on Low Power Mode, which limits background activity, like fetching mail and downloading data, and dims the screen to help extend battery life. Low Power Mode also kicks in automatically when the battery level reaches 20%.

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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 even playing games.

Apple says Adaptive Power takes about a week to analyze your usage behavior before it begins actively working. And it works in the background without needing any management on your part. 

Here’s how Apple describes it in the iPhone user guide: «It uses on-device intelligence to predict when you’ll need extra battery power based on your recent usage patterns, then makes performance adjustments to help your battery last longer.»

Which iPhone models can use Adaptive Power?

The feature uses AI to monitor and choose when its power-saving measures should be activated, so that means only phones compatible with Apple Intelligence get the feature. These 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, the feature is only available on iPhones.

How to turn Adaptive Power on

Adaptive Power is on by default on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air. For other models, you must opt in 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, turn on the Adaptive Power Notifications option.

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 in my experience so far, it hasn’t been noticeable. Because the feature also selectively de-prioritizes processing tasks, the outward effects seem minimal. When it’s activated on my iPhone 16 Pro, the only indication was the Adaptive Power alert that appeared.

We’ll get a better idea about how well Adaptive Power works as more people adopt iOS 26 and start buying new iPhone models. Also, remember that shortly after installing a major software update, it’s common to experience worse battery life as the system optimizes data in the background; Apple went so far as to remind customers that it’s a temporary side effect.

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, Nov. 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 17.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Swifties, that first clue is for you. If you need the answers, read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

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: Taylor Swift’s ___ Tour
Answer: ERAS

5A clue: Counterpart of «found»
Answer: LOST

6A clue: Difficult thing to achieve in a noisy office
Answer: FOCUS

8A clue: India’s prime minister since 2014
Answer: MODI

9A clue: River of the underworld, in Greek myth
Answer: STYX

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Will Ferrell holiday movie
Answer: ELF

2D clue: Buckingham Palace has 775 of these
Answer: ROOMS

3D clue: Fancy necktie
Answer: ASCOT

4D clue: What’s found next to the Hall and Library on a Clue board
Answer: STUDY

5D clue: Carbon’s atomic number
Answer: SIX

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 17, #420

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 17, No. 420.

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 is a fun one, especially if you’ve grown up rooting for a Big Ten school. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Hoops.

Green group hint: Get out on the ice.

Blue group hint: There are more than 10 these days.

Purple group hint: Roar!

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Places on a basketball court.

Green group: Types of hockey shots.

Blue group: Big Ten cities.

Purple group: Teams with Lion nicknames.

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 places on a basketball court. The four answers are baseline, elbow, paint and wing.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is types of hockey shots. The four answers are backhand, slap, snap and wrist.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Big Ten cities. The four answers are Ann Arbor, Bloomington, Eugene and Seattle.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams with Lion nicknames. The four answers are Columbia, Detroit, England and Penn State.

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Nov. 17, #1612

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Nov. 17, No. 1,612.

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 one, if you’ve ever taken wood shop. 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.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with C.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with P.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a brace-like tool that holds things together in a workshop.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is CLAMP.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Nov. 16, No. 1611, was WIELD.

Recent Wordle answers

Nov. 12, No. 1607: DEUCE

Nov. 13, No. 1608: TINGE

Nov. 14, No. 1609: LURID

Nov. 15, No. 1610: CLUNG

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