Apple's holiday ad delivers heartfelt chills

They did with it without hardware (mostly).

They did it without features (pretty much).

Without logos (save one) or slogans or cables or dialogue!

Apple did it (give us all the feels) with an expertly crafted holiday commercial that is sure to warm the chilly hearts of many viewers (and confuse a few, too) at a time when we need it most.

Every year, Apple tries to cook up a holiday commercial that will move us and, perhaps more cynically, warm us to the thought of spending substantial money on Apple gear. Last year, the company gave us legendary musician Stevie Wonder singing Someday at Christmas and in 2014 it was a tear-jerking ad that showed how a young woman used Apple products to revive a cherished memory.

Now Apple's gifted us an ad titled "Frankie's Holiday" that tugs on the heartstrings without big name celebrities or much of a product tie-in. Instead, it goes with Frankenstein's Monster (Apple seems unaware that the monster is not named Frankenstein), a character that might seem more at home in a Halloween ad.

And, yet, it works.

The set-up is simple: The Monster, played by Everybody Loves Raymond alum Brad Garrett, lives alone on a hill where we find him gently humming along to "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays" as it plays on a music box and he records the tune on an iPhone. He then dons a top hat and coat, making him look like a plus-size Scrooge, and treks out into the town square, where everyone is gathered to sing carols around the Christmas tree.

Of course, they're frightened when he arrives, but things soon take a turn. We won't ruin the rest for you, but the two-minute spot (embedded above) is worth a watch. A somewhat shorter, 90-second commercial will start airing on TV on Thanksgiving.

Apple's message here is clear: They want us to come together to open our hearts to everyone, even a 7-foot-tall reanimated "monster."

Sure, there's something a little off about the use of a stitched together abomination to sell the sentiment that we're all the same underneath, but it works.

Does it help Apple sell iPhone, iPads and MacBooks? That's not so clear, but maybe, just maybe that isn't the point this year.