Apple could be preparing to expand the iPhone’s emoji library once again with its next major software cycle. According to a new report citing Emojipedia, the Unicode Consortium has published a draft list of emojis that may eventually arrive on the iPhone as part of iOS 27.
The proposed additions come from the Unicode Emoji Standard and Research Working Group, which has put forward nine new emoji concepts along with ten additional skin tone modifiers. These are currently draft candidates for Unicode Emoji 18.0, meaning they are not final and could still change before being formally approved.
The nine emoji concepts under consideration cover a broad mix of expressions, objects and symbols. They include a smiley face with squinting eyes, leftward and rightward thumb gestures, a monarch butterfly, a pickle, a lighthouse, a meteor, an eraser designed to remove pencil markings from paper, and a handheld net. As with previous emoji updates, these are only conceptual at this stage. Once Unicode finalises the list, individual platform makers such as Apple and Google will design their own visual interpretations before rolling them out in software updates.
While the discussion around iOS 27 emojis has already begun, Apple is still one step behind on the current Unicode cycle. Unicode Emoji 17.0, which includes additions such as a shovel, fingerprint and beet, has not yet been implemented on the iPhone. Those emojis are expected to arrive with iOS 26.4, which is widely tipped to launch around March or April. If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, Unicode Emoji 18.0 could follow a similar pattern, potentially debuting in iOS 27.4 sometime around March the following year.
Apple’s broader software timeline also supports this expectation. The company typically previews its next-generation operating systems at its annual developer conference, with the final public release arriving alongside new iPhone launches in September. iOS 27 is expected to be unveiled at WWDC 26, while the finished version should ship later in the year. In the meantime, the upcoming iPhone 17e, which is rumoured to launch in the next few months, is expected to run iOS 26 out of the box.
Despite the steady stream of new emojis every year, their impact has arguably diminished as the emoji keyboard has grown increasingly crowded. Apple has partly addressed this by introducing Genmoji, a feature that allows users to create custom emojis using artificial intelligence. Genmoji was introduced as part of Apple Intelligence with iOS 18, although it is currently limited to newer iPhone models, starting with the iPhone 15 Pro, that support Apple’s on-device AI features.
As for iOS 27 more broadly, details remain scarce. However, Mark Gurman has previously suggested that the update could be a Snow Leopard-style release. The comparison refers to Mac OS X Snow Leopard from 2009, which focused on refinement, stability and performance improvements rather than headline-grabbing features. If that prediction holds true, iOS 27 may prioritise polish and quality control, with emoji updates serving as one of the more visible changes for everyday users.
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