Apple’s new iPhone emoji include vaccine syringe, a heart on fire, and more options for mixing skin tones

200 out of the 217 new emoji are for couples with different skin tones

(Getty Images)

Apple’s latest update to its iPhones bring a number of new emoji, including a blazing heart, adapting the syringe emoji for depicting vaccinations and more different skin tones for couples.

Three new smileys are also introduced in the release - Exhaling Face, Face With Spiral Eyes and Face in Clouds - as well as two new hearts, one on fire and another with bandages around it.

Apple has also changed the headphone emoji to make it look more similar to its recently released over-ear headphones the AirPods Max, similar to the way it already made the laptop, mobile phone, and watch emoji appear closer to its own products.

The vast majority of changes in the update are for couples - with 200 of the 217 new emojis in this release being designed for two people with mixed skin tones. There is also the option to specify both women and men with beards.

The pandemic-inspired changes to the syringe emoji come after Apple also altered the icon of a person wearing a face mask so that it was smiling, to reflect the way their role has changed during the pandemic.

The way that these emojis appear for Apple users may not match how they appear on other platforms; individual companies design how emoji look on their devices and services. Users of Google’s Pixel phones, for example, have had access to these emoji since December.

New emoji are not the only additions Apple is making to its operating system. The iOS 14.5 update will let users to change the default music app on their iPhone.

It will also let users unlock their phone using their Apple Watch, to make it easier to use while wearing a mask, and includes support for the new Xbox and PlayStation controllers.