If you're a fan of emoji, iOS 26.4 added a handful of new ones to iPhones , including -- objectively -- the best of the bunch: an orca whale. Apple released the update to the general public on March 24, bringing eight new emoji to your device.
The eight new emoji are:
- Orca
- Landslide
- Trombone
- Fight cloud
- Distorted face
- 🧑🩰 Ballet dancers
- Treasure chest
- Hairy creature (Sasquatch)
The Unicode Consortium is responsible for creating emoji, and it approved these new emoji in September as part of Unicode 17.0.
"These new emoji have long-standing symbolic meanings, are visually distinctive and contain multitudes of expression," the Unicode Consortium wrote in July 2025.
While these emoji are just now landing on iPhones, the Unicode Consortium is already in the process of creating new emoji that you might see on your device in 2027. The group began proposing emoji starting in October, and some of those emoji include a lighthouse, a meteor and a pickle.
For more news, here's everything included in iOS 26.4 and how to decipher every emoji. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.
Watch this: Don't Wait: iOS 26.4 Brings New Emoji, Keyboard Fixes, AI Playlists
