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Don't think AI is required for this but not at all surprised that Apple is doing this. Though older devices are getting the software update, going forward Apple will restrict availability of many features to 15 Pro or newer.
 
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I was just thinking the same thing. A lot of folks are gonna be ticked off about that. 14 Pro is not that long ago. That's like almost three generations back? Apple is trying to force people to upgrade to the newer models in order to get those new features of the iOS 26.
It is almost like Apple is in the business of selling things ...
 
Apple shouldn’t have been bean counting on the RAM for years, now my over 1 year old iPhone 15 is treated like the red haired stepchild. Not a good look for Apple, I wouldn’t buy another iPhone after this, going to either OnePlus or Nothing phone next time I upgrade.
 
Could someone explain why this adaptive power mode is considered an “AI-powered feature?”
I would guess it's machine learning. ML can be very good indeed at finding correlations between attributes. Figure it like this: if we knew the correlations a priori we could write a whole bunch of if...then statements but the more attributes present the more difficult it becomes to weigh how important each one is and how they interact. With ML it's possible to say "take these 10, or 100, or 1000 attributes into account and figure out what the interrelations are." Further, the importance of each relationship can be adjusted ("learned") with more usage.

Consider something like polling for new messages. To save power it makes sense to poll less frequently when fewer messages are arriving. For me that might be between noon and six but for you that might be between midnight and dawn. Rather than have assumptions made the system can "learn" what the usage patterns look like for an individual user. But can also take other factors into account: is the phone being actively used, is it at home or elsewhere, are the messages being acknowledged, and so on.

You might think that asking the user would be a better ploy but it turns out that people aren't necessarily great at understanding all of the inputs. To wit: I worked on a project that used ML to refine operating room scheduling. Using a rubric of ~20 attributes (patient age, surgeon, procedure, but also more surprising features like weight, day of week, time of day, diabetes status) we gained about an hour/day for each of seven ORs. The folks doing the scheduling by hand had a crazy amount of experience and were very good at their jobs but could not match what the number crunching predicted.
 
The iPhone 15 Pro is turning out to be incredibly future-proof. It also got the iPhone 16 Pro's Visual Intelligence. Unlike previous years, the 15 Pro didn’t really miss out on any major iOS 18 features, which usually go only to the newest models.
 
Idk. I have a 15 PM and so far battery life is poop on the developer beta and adaptive power mode has done nothing in my humble opinion to help extend life.
I am no power user(background refresh is off/AOD is off/ no push notifications etc). I charge to 80% and easily made on iOS 18 from 5 am to 10 pm with generally 30% battery life. Now I generally have to charge a 2nd time during the day.

Long way to go with battery
Performance on iOS26 in my humble opinion.
 
The upcoming feature sounds like the Shortcuts app on steroids.
I mean, that’s how I get my worth out of having an iPhone instead of an Android, I can literally make my own features that even run automatically in the background fairly easily, and for everything else there are shortcuts online.
I am so happy some people at Apple proposed the Automation app and that it actually got a very good rework with features added every year. It’s the most un Apple thing from a 2000’s consumers perspective but it’s the most pre 1985 Apple thing on the iPhone as well. Almost as if certain philosophies have changed… luckily this still exists.
I have half a dozen shortcuts and automations regarding power modes and states, it’s very awesome actually.
You’re right, maybe they use a similar tool to Shortcuts in-house to play around and come up with worthwhile system features.
Strange though that not more bugs and errors would be fixed then.
 
The iPhone 15 Pro is turning out to be incredibly future-proof. It also got the iPhone 16 Pro's Visual Intelligence. Unlike previous years, the 15 Pro didn’t really miss out on any major iOS 18 features, which usually go only to the newest models.
Right? Because I had an 11 Pro and really got used to a telephoto camera and was sick of 60hz motion and Lightning I decided to go for a 15 Pro shortly after iOS 18 was released.
I’m really glad that I didn’t skim out and went for the 14 Pro instead.
If that intelligent power management gives me the originally advertised battery life I couldn’t be more happy, this is a rock solid phone (except for the action button in my case)
 
Could someone explain why this adaptive power mode is considered an “AI-powered feature?”

Is it not something coding could do? Like if iPhone temperature above a certain threshold, initiate lower brightness mode, reduce background activities. etc.?
It's a scam. Even the feature to manually set limits on charging did not make it to phones lower than 15. But that's not AI.
 
It's a scam. Even the feature to manually set limits on charging did not make it to phones lower than 15. But that's not AI.
Agreed. Love how they preach uniformity across platforms, but MacBooks don’t have a charge limit feature that is native to the OS. Yet the 15 pro and up do. Instead we have to rely on Al Dente and the like for a feature that should be on modern MacBooks already. "Apple Intelligence" is an oxymoron anyways, so they can keep it.
 
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Just follow Apple’s battery recommendations on their site and remove power hungry apps like Zuckyware, then you won’t need to spend extra grand to get a gimmicky AI feature.
Just don’t travel in low or no cell service areas like national parks. Just spent a week in this condition , Android phones did ok while all Apple cell phones drained quickly.
 
I wonder how good this "adaptive battery" feature is. I turned Adaptive Battery on my Pixel 7 and never noticed a difference.
 
That AI feature will use more CPU power, so it will end up using more battery!!!
 
Knowing Apple people should be happy this is not an iPhone 17 exclusive feature….
 
I was just thinking the same thing. A lot of folks are gonna be ticked off about that. 14 Pro is not that long ago. That's like almost three generations back? Apple is trying to force people to upgrade to the newer models in order to get those new features of the iOS 26.
You’re being entitled to think all iOS26 features need to support older phones.

Your reaction is also premature by not allowing things to play out with the beta OS being released so that tech savvy experts can reverse engineer and review the feature to properly evaluate the feature’s requirements
 
Seems like it will be something I will leave switched off.

Why would I want to reduce performance, or slightly lower screen brightness, or slow activities down.

There's plenty of other ways to manage battery life without needing to use this (reduce the time spent using your iPhone when battery is getting low, keep an eye on battery level before leaving home and charge up beforehand to name two).
 
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I personally cant use this mode if it dims the screen as this just triggers my PWM sensitivity's with headaches and frazzled eye balls.
 
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