diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testLayoutExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testLayoutExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png
index bfa2091b38f525..8294d61c73c743 100644
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diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testSliderExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testSliderExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png
index 80fca00adcd068..99ec5fe9da62f6 100644
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diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testSwitchExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testSwitchExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png
index 7cf2516faa0db8..e23054a48bf660 100644
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diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testTabBarExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testTabBarExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png
index 0eb71334396f1f..519590858d17de 100644
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diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testTextExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testTextExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png
index f37869de39ea06..a48719fb5737c3 100644
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diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testViewExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerIntegrationTests/ReferenceImages/Examples-UIExplorer-UIExplorerApp.ios/testViewExampleSnapshot_1@2x.png
index d37b708794c43a..d25cae02ecd48d 100644
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diff --git a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerUnitTests/RCTConvert_UIFontTests.m b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerUnitTests/RCTConvert_UIFontTests.m
index 35dfe1167fbd5a..f986986bebd3c2 100644
--- a/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerUnitTests/RCTConvert_UIFontTests.m
+++ b/Examples/UIExplorer/UIExplorerUnitTests/RCTConvert_UIFontTests.m
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ - (void)DISABLED_testWeight // task #7118691
 - (void)testSize
 {
   {
-    UIFont *expected = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue" size:18.5];
+    UIFont *expected = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:18.5];
     UIFont *result = [RCTConvert UIFont:@{@"fontSize": @18.5}];
     RCTAssertEqualFonts(expected, result);
   }
@@ -69,12 +69,19 @@ - (void)testFamily
 - (void)testStyle
 {
   {
-    UIFont *expected = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue-Italic" size:14];
+    UIFont *font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:14];
+    UIFontDescriptor *fontDescriptor = [font fontDescriptor];
+    UIFontDescriptorSymbolicTraits symbolicTraits =
+      fontDescriptor.symbolicTraits;
+    symbolicTraits |= UIFontDescriptorTraitItalic;
+    fontDescriptor =
+      [fontDescriptor fontDescriptorWithSymbolicTraits:symbolicTraits];
+    UIFont *expected = [UIFont fontWithDescriptor:fontDescriptor size:14];
     UIFont *result = [RCTConvert UIFont:@{@"fontStyle": @"italic"}];
     RCTAssertEqualFonts(expected, result);
   }
   {
-    UIFont *expected = [UIFont fontWithName:@"HelveticaNeue" size:14];
+    UIFont *expected = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:14];
     UIFont *result = [RCTConvert UIFont:@{@"fontStyle": @"normal"}];
     RCTAssertEqualFonts(expected, result);
   }
diff --git a/Libraries/Text/RCTTextView.m b/Libraries/Text/RCTTextView.m
index 31850be5a6e2cb..f32debd47bede8 100644
--- a/Libraries/Text/RCTTextView.m
+++ b/Libraries/Text/RCTTextView.m
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ - (BOOL)canBecomeFirstResponder
 
 - (UIFont *)defaultPlaceholderFont
 {
-  return [UIFont fontWithName:@"Helvetica" size:17];
+  return [UIFont systemFontOfSize:17];
 }
 
 - (UIColor *)defaultPlaceholderTextColor
diff --git a/React/Base/RCTConvert.m b/React/Base/RCTConvert.m
index 804faf87ece82b..2d647b4652f99e 100644
--- a/React/Base/RCTConvert.m
+++ b/React/Base/RCTConvert.m
@@ -746,7 +746,7 @@ + (UIFont *)UIFont:(UIFont *)font withFamily:(id)family
               size:(id)size weight:(id)weight style:(id)style
 {
   // Defaults
-  NSString *const RCTDefaultFontFamily = @"Helvetica Neue";
+  NSString *const RCTDefaultFontFamily = @"System";
   const RCTFontWeight RCTDefaultFontWeight = UIFontWeightRegular;
   const CGFloat RCTDefaultFontSize = 14;
 
@@ -757,7 +757,59 @@ + (UIFont *)UIFont:(UIFont *)font withFamily:(id)family
   BOOL isItalic = NO;
   BOOL isCondensed = NO;
 
+  if ([[self NSString:family] isEqualToString:RCTDefaultFontFamily] ||
+      (!family && !font)) {
+    if (font) {
+      fontSize = font.pointSize ?: RCTDefaultFontSize;
+      fontWeight = RCTWeightOfFont(font);
+      isItalic = RCTFontIsItalic(font);
+    }
+
+    fontSize = [self CGFloat:size] ?: fontSize;
+
+    if (weight) {
+      fontWeight = [self RCTFontWeight:weight];
+    }
+
+    font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:fontSize];
+
+    if (ABS(fontWeight - RCTDefaultFontWeight) <  0.01) {
+      UIFontDescriptor *fontDescriptor = [font fontDescriptor];
+      UIFontDescriptorSymbolicTraits symbolicTraits =
+        fontDescriptor.symbolicTraits;
+
+      if (style) {
+        isItalic = [self RCTFontStyle:style];
+      }
+      if (isItalic) {
+        symbolicTraits |= UIFontDescriptorTraitItalic;
+        fontDescriptor =
+          [fontDescriptor fontDescriptorWithSymbolicTraits:symbolicTraits];
+      }
+      return [UIFont fontWithDescriptor:fontDescriptor size:fontSize];
+    }
+  }
+
   if (font) {
+    if (!family && !weight) {
+      fontSize = font.pointSize ?: RCTDefaultFontSize;
+      fontSize = [self CGFloat:size] ?: fontSize;
+
+      UIFontDescriptor *fontDescriptor = [font fontDescriptor];
+      UIFontDescriptorSymbolicTraits symbolicTraits =
+        fontDescriptor.symbolicTraits;
+
+      if (style) {
+        isItalic = [self RCTFontStyle:style];
+      }
+      if (isItalic) {
+        symbolicTraits |= UIFontDescriptorTraitItalic;
+        fontDescriptor =
+          [fontDescriptor fontDescriptorWithSymbolicTraits:symbolicTraits];
+      }
+      return [UIFont fontWithDescriptor:fontDescriptor size:fontSize];
+    }
+
     familyName = font.familyName ?: RCTDefaultFontFamily;
     fontSize = font.pointSize ?: RCTDefaultFontSize;
     fontWeight = RCTWeightOfFont(font);