New Emojis Coming to Apple This Spring
This spring, Apple is rolling out new emojis with the upcoming iOS 26.4 update. Among these additions are some that have sparked discussion and debate.
This summer, eight new emojis are set to be approved by the Unicode Consortium, the body that governs emoji standards, and will find their way onto devices and platforms in the near future.
The emojis included in the new update are:
- ballet dancer
- distorted face
- fight cloud
- hairy creatures
- landslide
- killer whale
- trombone
- treasure chest
One emoji, the “distorted face,” is getting a lot of attention. It’s making waves on social media, reminding some users of a controversial Apple ad from 2024.
Many remember the backlash the “iPad Pro crush!” advertisement faced, prompting an official apology from Apple. The ad featured various creative items being crushed, alongside a small yellow face that resembles the new distorted face emoji. The intent was to showcase the iPad’s capabilities for creative work, but the execution left many unimpressed.
“Creativity is in Apple’s DNA, and designing products that empower creative people around the world is extremely important to us,” said Tor Myhren, Apple’s vice president of marketing communications, reflecting on the ad at the time. “Our goal is to always celebrate the countless ways users can express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We apologize for missing the point in this video.”
People seem to appreciate Apple’s self-aware nod to past missteps.
“I thought 26.4’s new distorted emoji looked familiar…” one user commented on X.
“Distorted face will become the most used emoji overnight,” another predicted.
“It’s almost here. iPad Pro Crush ad, welcome back,” someone humorously noted.
“I’m 95% sure this emoji actually exists thanks to this ad,” wrote another user.
“I think we can all agree that this is the best new emoji in iOS 26.4,” one enthusiast stated. Another user joked, “A distorted face is trying to put a legendary number on my email.”
The new emojis are already accessible to those in the Apple Beta Software Program and will be generally available with the iOS 26.4 update.
As of now, Apple hasn’t provided a specific release date for the update, but it’s anticipated sometime this spring.
While Apple users can create custom emojis with the Genmoji feature, these new emojis have been officially approved by the Unicode Consortium, making them part of the universal emoji standard.
This means the update will enable users to send and receive these new emojis seamlessly across different platforms.
