? Apple Emoji Secret Page – Here’s the History of the Apple Emoji

2 Min Read Published: Oct 4th, 2016

Updated: Oct 20th, 2016

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If you’re on a macOS or iOS platform, chances are you can see this logo: ?. This is the Unicode text symbol for the Apple logo. Its Unicode value is U+F8FF. It isn’t entirely clear when Apple added it to its computers, but Google Trends shows that ? was being used in web searches at least as early as 2004. But since its inception as a Unicode text symbol, the ? Apple symbol has had issues.

The issue with ? is that it only properly shows up on Mac or Apple devices because it’s a reserved character — the Unicode value changes based on what operating system you’re using or viewing it on. So when Mac-based bloggers who used ? in their posts assumed that everyone could see it, they were very wrong. In actuality, the symbol can range from a euro symbol, to a smiley face in Dingbats. Perhaps most embarrassing for Apple is that, in Wingdings 1, it appears as a Windows Logo, according to blogger Nik Cubrilovic.

But the ? Apple symbol could still be useful. In fact, some of Cupertino’s products and services are stylized using ? — including ? Watch and ? Pay. For Mac-based Twitter users, using the ? Apple symbol could save five or more precious characters.

Of course, Windows computers actually still have the capability to type the ? Apple symbol — it’s just not as easy as it is on Apple-based devices. The ? Apple symbol can be found in the Windows Character Map — but even though PCs can technically type the ? logo (because it doesn’t occupy the same Unicode address as Mac machines), you still won’t be able to see the ? Apple symbol that your Mac-based friend sends you.