iOS 26 battery & charging features: Hands on with adaptive power mode

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Apple is doing even more to help you protect your battery life and overall health with iOS 26. Here's how.

Smartphone screen displaying battery widget percentages, including 30% and 91%, with various app icons like Calendar, Mail, Notes, and Twitter. Person's hand partially visible.
The battery widget shows the battery life on all your connected devices



Batteries are not eternal. They are a physical and chemical process that deteriorate over time, and will inevitably need to be replaced if you keep your device long enough.

For years, Apple has prioritized battery health and longevity with features built into iOS. The upcoming iOS 26 takes things even further.

We've been testing out the developer beta of iOS 26 for a couple of weeks. Here are the features we've found so far.

Battery ETA



When you plug in your phone or attach it to a MagSafe charger after updating, you'll see a little message above the time. It will show your current battery percentage and an estimate on how long it will be until it's charged.

Hands holding a smartphone displaying a blue background screen showing 12:01, a battery icon at 29% charged, and time to reach 80%.
The new Lock Screen can show an estimated time until your battery is charged



If there's less than an hour remaining to charge, you'll see the time in minutes. If the iPhone predicts charging will take more than an hour, the iPhone will just say that it'll be more than an hour.

Apple also lets you know to what percentage the iPhone is charging to. For example, if you only let your phone charge to 80%, it will show that percentage as the end goal.

Hand holding a smartphone displaying battery charging status at 30%, alongside a wireless charging pad on a dark textured surface.
You can also view the battery charging time in Settings



Aside from the lock screen, the battery charging ETA is also housed in the Settings app. You can see it inside of the Battery subsection.

It would be great if Apple would also add this feature to its widget too. That way you could see the ETA while your phone charges in Stand By mode.

Aside from how long it will take to charge, this indicator can also alert you if you have a slow charger. Your phone will explicitly tell you that an inadequately slow charger is being used.

This must be very slow, or an imperfect feature so far, as even Apple's ancient 5W charger didn't cause this warning to show.

Battery icon update



The next new battery feature is an indicator when your battery charging is on hold. Instead of showing a green battery with a lightning bolt, the battery icon will turn grey with a lightning bolt.

Smartphone on a wooden surface, showing battery status at 80 percent with optimized charging notification on the screen. Brown case partially visible underneath.
Charging can go on hold for various reasons, including heat or when using Optimized Charging



Battery charging can be on hold, with the most common reason being an overheat. The new icon gives you a visual way to know your phone is able to draw power, but is currently paused.

For more info, you can go back to those battery settings. There, it will spell out exactly why charging is paused.

Adaptive Power mode



Low Power mode has been an iOS standby. Now, Apple is adding Adaptive Power mode, too.

Currently, it needs to be enabled in settings by visiting Settings > Battery > Power Mode and toggling it on. You will see two toggles, one for each of the two power modes.

Smartphone screen displaying power mode settings with options for Adaptive Power and Low Power Mode against a blurred background.
Adaptive Power mode joins Low Power mode



Low Power mode has a toggle also in Control Center. Hopefully, Apple adds a toggle for Adaptive Power mode there too.

The goal of Adaptive Power mode is to help extend your battery life. It will automatically make adjustments to your phone on the fly to help prolong your battery.

Apple says it will automatically lower the display brightness or allow tasks to take longer. It even says it will automatically turn on Low Power mode for you when your phone hits 20%.

It seems like a less aggressive version of Low Power mode that you can keep on perpetually.

Coming in the fall of 2025



These battery features join Apple's existing ones such as the Battery Health settings, Low Power mode, Optimized Charging, clean energy charging, the battery widget, and more.

Smartphone charging settings screen with options for charge limit, optimized battery charging, and clean energy charging. A hand points towards the screen. Circular charging pad nearby.
Optimized charging is one of Apple's older battery health features



The new features -- and more -- will arrive with iOS 26 in the fall of 2025, when the iPhone 17 family ships. The developer beta process is going right now, and the public beta is expected in July.

The second beta of iOS 26 has been released which contained more tweaksas Apple marches towards the full release.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    Anilu_777anilu_777 Posts: 607member
    You say, “ Aside from how long it will take to charge, this indicator can also alert you if you have a slow charger. Your phone will explicitly tell you that an inadequately slow charger is being used.

    This must be very slow, or an imperfect feature so far, as even Apple's ancient 5W charger didn't cause this warning to show.”

    As I charge overnight I prefer the 5W charger to avoid heating the battery and phone. If needed I’ll use fast charge during the day to top up and then use again. 
    williamlondonappleinsideruserAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingam
     3Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 4
    Oliver#65oliver#65 Posts: 8member
    Hopefully Apple start using Stacked Lithium batteries in the IPhone 17 series 
    williamlondon
     0Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 4
    appleinsideruserappleinsideruser Posts: 781member
    wish they’d add to earlier iPhones like the 14. It has the hardware capability of putting charge on hold (when using continuity camera), it’s just a feature switch that Apple don’t want too add. 
    williamlondon
     0Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 4
    profprof Posts: 121member
    Wow, it's hard to express how much I'm not impressed. Those features are really just additions of control knobs for what devices have been capable of doing for 10 years now. Of course, despite the hardware being capable, the software does also not support those features on older iPhones. Why should they support setting the maximum charge level on an iPhone 13 when the user could just buy a 14 or newer?

    There's still so much low hanging fruit... I don't quite understand why my dedicated rundown iPhone 7 phone with Whatsapp manages to get a solid 6 days of runtime sitting around, while a much fresher iPhone 12 doing the exact same thing bottoms out after 4 days.

    A phone is a tool for me, I need it when I need it and I need it to be ready when I do... without having it permanently hooked up to a charger just in case. Why anyone would give a damn about 22 hours continuous video playback on battery is complete mystery to me -- where would I ever watch for 22 hours straight without being near to a power source only to have a flat battery when there's stuff I actually have to do on the go...

    Apple should instead be focusing on identifying and reporting needless power drainers... and provide options for properly cutting them off instead of the half-assed "background activity" control they're offering -- of course mainly for third party apps and not their own system, which is most definitely the offender in my "Whatsapp-only" use case...
    muthuk_vanalingamappleinsideruser
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
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