Apple’s (ticker: AAPL) latest operating system iOS 10 will bring with it a slew of new emojis that promote gender and family diversity, though there’s one particular update that will likely ignite controversy on both sides of the gun debate: It’s replacing its infamous pistol emoji with a green and orange water version, in conjunction with the non-profit Unicode Consortium.
The rationale behind Apple‘s move is unclear, though #DisarmTheiPhone campaigners have been lobbying the company, reports Fortune. The company isn’t getting rid of the gun completely, but this version in theory could ease the previous emoji’s more intense connotation.
The tricky case with emojis is that different app-makers can offer slight variations on iconic symbols (i.e. someone could send a pistol on a Samsung phone and it would appear as a toy an iPhone).
Fortune points out that Apple isn’t the first company to offer a more tame iteration of a gun, i.e. Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Windows 10 sci-fi laser guns.
Apple is wading into a contentious arena (though reportedly isn’t a stranger to it), particularly as gun violence continues to affect the U.S. The release date this fall comes as the presidential election approaches, where gun legislation will likely come up as a debate topic — potentially making Apple’s emoji a highly-used, front-and-center image.
With the release of iOS 10 and expected iPhone 7 release this fall, Apple appears to be making a stronger play in the market. But will evolving with cultural changes through emojis and yet another updated iPhone be enough to impress investors?
So far, AAPL has remained flat on the year, though it saw its stock tick up 6.5 percent after a strong quarterly earnings report last week beat analysts’ expectations.
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Apple (AAPL) to Release Tamer Gun Emoji originally appeared on usnews.com
