Apple added two options for Liquid Glass in iOS 26.1 beta 4, which are ‘Clear’ and ‘Tinted’. The change is related to the design, and it includes how the display is being used, which takes us to this question: Does Tinted save battery compared to Clear?
MacRumors’ Juli Clover ran four back-to-back sessions with strict parameters and identical usage patterns. She compared Clear, Tinted, and Tinted with accessibility options like Reduce Transparency, Increase Contrast, and Reduce Motion. Across 2.5 hours per run, battery drop stayed within 1 percentage point.
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What Apple changed
‘Tinted’ reduces translucency in Liquid Glass to improve opacity and readability. It sits alongside Clear and appears across the system in toolbars, sidebars, menus, and notifications. The toggle exists in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS betas.
Test setup
Device and environment
- iPhone 17 Pro Max, 100% battery health
- Light Mode, True Tone off, Night Shift off
- Brightness fixed at 50%
- Display set to never turn off
- Ambient temperature 68 to 72 degrees
- Notifications left on to mirror daily use
Four test modes
- Liquid Glass: Clear
- Liquid Glass: Tinted
- Tinted + Reduce Transparency + Increase Contrast
- Tinted + Reduce Transparency + Increase Contrast + Reduce Motion
Home screen and app behavior
- Standard icon layout
- Between segments, close app, return to Home, swipe down, type app name, open
How the test ran
Each 2.5-hour session followed the same sequence, timed to the second:
- 30 minutes TikTok
- 30 minutes YouTube
- 30 minutes Instagram
- 30 minutes Safari
- 30 minutes Maps
During every 30-minute block, she opened Lock Screen notifications four times and Control Center four times. That produced 20 interactions with translucent UI per test.
Results at a glance
Round summary
| Round | Mode and settings | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clear | 80% | 70% |
| 2 | Tinted | 80% | 69% |
| 3 | Tinted + Reduce Transparency + Increase Contrast | 80% | 69% |
| 4 | Tinted + Reduce Transparency + Increase Contrast + Reduce Motion | 80% | 70% |
Interpretation: the 1% spread sits inside normal variation for content, timing, and notifications. There is no actionable battery gain from switching to Tinted or adding those accessibility options on iPhone 17.
Segment breakdown
Per-segment endpoints show the same pattern of near-identical drain:
- Round 1 (Clear): TikTok 79%, YouTube 77%, Instagram 74%, Safari 72%, Maps 70%
- Round 2 (Tinted): TikTok 78%, YouTube 75%, Instagram 72%, Safari 70%, Maps 69%
- Round 3 (Tinted + RT + IC): TikTok 78%, YouTube 76%, Instagram 73%, Safari 70%, Maps 69%
- Round 4 (Tinted + RT + IC + RM): TikTok 79%, Instagram 77%, YouTube 74%, Safari 72%, Maps 70%
The small ordering swap of Instagram and YouTube in Round 4 did not change the outcome.
These results cover 2.5 hours per run. A full 16-hour day heavy on Liquid Glass elements might compound differences, but any gain would be minor. TikTok and Instagram use little Liquid Glass, so an app set with more translucent chrome could shift totals slightly. Older devices that work harder on translucency might show a wider gap, but that needs testing.
How to switch Clear or Tinted
- iPhone and iPad: Settings > Display & Brightness > Liquid Glass > choose Clear or Tinted
- Mac: System Settings > Appearance > Liquid Glass > choose Clear or Tinted
The choice applies system-wide, including supported third-party apps. There is no slider. Pick one and the UI updates instantly.
Battery saving that actually works
- Turn on Low Power Mode or Adaptive Power Mode
- Lower the display brightness
- Use Dark Mode on OLED screens
- Cut background activity you do not need
Choose Tinted for readability and style, not for battery life. On iPhone 17 Pro Max, Clear and Tinted drain the battery at the same pace under controlled use.
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