This iOS 26 feature makes the iPhone 17 Air a more considerable upgrade for me

Day one of Apple’s WWDC conference is over, and my brain has been wrapped around one particular feature ever since. It wasn’t announced during the opening keynote, nor did it make it onto the all-encompassing graphics chart of iOS 26 features, but it’s a big one — if it works.

Also: Everything you might’ve missed at WWDC 2025: iOS 26, Liquid Glass, MacOS Tahoe, more

The feature I’m referring to is called “Adaptive Power,” a battery conservation tool that’s baked into the Power Mode settings in iOS 26. You’ll have to dig through a few columns to access it within the Settings app on the developer beta. Once you turn it on, your iPhone will automatically throttle certain background tasks to help you conserve battery whenever it detects high-performance workloads.

In Apple’s words, “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.” 

Exactly how aggressive this power-saving mode is remains to be tested, but if it works only when you’re truly pushing your iPhone — like recording videos, editing photos, or gaming — then it’s a feature many users may appreciate.

Such a feature is especially important to owners of smaller iPhones, like the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. Both of these devices have smaller batteries than their Plus and Pro Max siblings and have often been reported to have just average battery life.

Also: You can download iOS 26 developer beta on your iPhone right now. Here’s how

Looking ahead, Adaptive Power mode will also come in handy for the rumored iPhone 17 Air, an ultra-thin and lightweight model that’s expected to feature a shorter battery life than the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. I recently reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, and while the burdenless form factor appealed to me, the middling endurance was a disappointment.

If Apple can solve that one issue with the iPhone 17 Air, it would likely move up the ladder of consideration for me as I look to upgrade my iPhone 15 Pro Max later this year. From the looks of iOS 26, Apple has already begun thinking about how to make its ultra-thin iPhone last longer than its closest competitor.