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Apple’s 2021 holiday commercial is called “Saving Simon.” Released on November 24, 2021, the roughly three-minute film follows a girl who protects a snowman through an entire year—and turns a smartphone-camera demonstration into a story about family, anticipation, and shared memory.
Watch “Saving Simon” on YouTube:
“Saving Simon” at a glance
- Title: “Saving Simon”
- Campaign labels: “Holiday — Saving Simon” and “Shot on iPhone 13 Pro — Saving Simon”
- Released: November 24, 2021
- Runtime: Approximately three minutes
- Directors: Jason Reitman and Ivan Reitman
- Song: “You and I” by Valerie June
- Closing message: “To the ones we’ve waited all year to be with. Happy Holidays.”
The phrase “shot on iPhone 13 Pro” describes the commercial’s capture device. It is not the title of the film.
What happens in the ad?
A boy knocks over three snowmen and is about to destroy a fourth when his sister steps in. She takes the remaining snowman inside and places him in the family freezer, naming him Simon.
Keeping Simon intact becomes a year-long mission. The family has to deal with the practical difficulties of preserving a snowman, while the girl remains determined to protect the object that has become meaningful to her. Third-party commercial listings describe details including power outages, warmer freezer conditions, and Simon being hit by a passing cyclist; those details are catalog descriptions rather than Apple’s formal synopsis.
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When winter returns, the girl puts Simon back outside. The reunion does not last: Simon is accidentally destroyed. At first, the family does not fully understand why the loss matters so much to her. They eventually recognize what Simon represents and help rebuild him.
That final turn gives the commercial its emotional payoff. Simon is not valuable because he is an unusually important snowman; he is valuable because the family has attached a year of care, waiting, and memory to him.
Watch Apple’s behind-the-scenes film
Apple also released a behind-the-scenes video for “Saving Simon”. It highlights the iPhone 13 Pro’s Cinematic mode, macro video, and low-light performance as part of the filmmaking approach.
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“Saving Simon” was directed by Oscar-nominated father-and-son filmmakers Jason Reitman and Ivan Reitman. Their partnership is especially fitting for a film built around family relationships, generational memory, and the emotional importance of shared rituals.
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The wider credits include TBWAMedia Arts Lab as the agency, OMD as the media agency, Bob Industries as the production company, and post-production/editing credits associated with Exile. Industry award listings and trade coverage document those production relationships.
What “shot on iPhone 13 Pro” means—and what it does not mean
Apple presents the commercial as shot on an iPhone 13 Pro. That is a meaningful claim about the camera used to capture the film, but it should not automatically be read as proof that every part of the production was phone-only.
Contemporary coverage described the use of additional lenses, consumer apps, practical effects, and improvised or custom camera rigs. Apple also referred to unspecified additional software and hardware. The finished commercial would still have required the wider filmmaking process: lighting, set and prop design, direction, blocking, editing, sound work, color correction, and visual-effects or finishing work where needed.
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- Supported: the iPhone 13 Pro was the principal capture device promoted by the campaign.
- Not established: that no supplementary lenses, rigs, apps, lighting, production equipment, or post-production were used.
- Practical lesson: the phone is one important part of the image-making system, not the entire reason the commercial looks polished.
Which iPhone 13 Pro features matter?
Cinematic mode
Cinematic mode is relevant to the commercial’s film-like presentation because it can create a shallow-depth-of-field look and transition focus between subjects. That makes it useful for directing attention from a face to a prop, or from a foreground detail to the action behind it.
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The behind-the-scenes film highlights Cinematic mode as part of the production. It does not establish that every shot in the commercial was recorded using that mode.
Macro video
Macro video is suited to close views of snow texture, hands, small objects, and miniature details. Those shots can make a simple snowman feel tactile and give a seasonal film visual variety without requiring a large camera to move into tight spaces.
Low-light performance
Winter stories naturally include dim interiors, evening scenes, and locations lit to feel warm rather than brightly exposed. Apple’s behind-the-scenes material points to the iPhone 13 Pro’s low-light capability as another relevant part of the production approach.
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Multiple lenses and a small camera body
The iPhone 13 Pro’s different camera perspectives can help a crew move between wide establishing views, standard coverage, and tighter details. Its small form factor also allows unusual camera placement in spaces where a conventional cinema camera would be harder to position.
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Those capabilities are most useful when combined with controlled lighting, deliberate composition, stabilization, and a clear shot plan.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the commercial works
“Saving Simon” performs two jobs at once. On the surface, it is a holiday story about a family waiting for winter and finding a way to share one person’s attachment to a snowman. Underneath, it is an elevated product demonstration: the camera is showcased through an emotionally engaging short film instead of a conventional feature list.
The technology remains subordinate to the narrative. The ad establishes Simon, creates a series of practical obstacles, lets the audience anticipate the winter reunion, and then reverses that expectation by having the snowman destroyed. The family’s decision to rebuild him resolves both the plot and the emotional conflict.
The result sells more than image quality. It associates the iPhone with the ability to preserve small, meaningful moments and turn them into a cinematic family story.
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How much of this could an ordinary iPhone filmmaker reproduce?
An iPhone user could reasonably reproduce some of the techniques the commercial highlights:
- Macro-style close-ups of snow, fabric, hands, and small props.
- Focus transitions that guide the viewer’s attention.
- Low-light compositions in carefully controlled interiors.
- Unusual camera positions made possible by a compact phone.
- Wide, medium, and tight coverage captured from a single mobile platform.
Reproducing the entire commercial’s finish is a different matter. The final look also depends on professional direction, actors, production design, practical effects, lighting, stabilization or custom rigs, audio recording, sound design, editing, color correction, and possibly visual-effects work.
The useful takeaway is not that an iPhone alone creates a commercial. It is that a phone can serve as the central capture device in a carefully planned production—and can provide access to shots that would once have required much larger equipment.
Music: Valerie June’s “You and I”
The soundtrack is “You and I” by Valerie June. Its warm, slightly wistful tone supports the commercial’s focus on waiting, affection, and reunion. It should be treated as a music credit; the available information does not establish that Apple commissioned the song specifically for this advertisement.
Is the iPhone 13 Pro still a current buying recommendation?
No—not as a current new model from Apple’s U.S. store. As of September 2026, Apple’s current iPhone lineup includes newer models such as the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17, iPhone 17e, iPhone Air, and iPhone 16. Used and refurbished iPhone 13 Pro availability can vary by seller and region, so buyers should check battery health, storage, carrier compatibility, warranty status, and device condition.
If the goal is to make similar mobile video today, Apple’s current iPhone 17 Pro is the closest first-party recommendation for readers prioritizing camera flexibility and video features. The standard iPhone 17 is a lower-cost alternative, while the iPhone 16 may offer a more economical route to modern smartphone video.
That buying decision should not be based on the advertisement alone. “Saving Simon” demonstrates what is possible with a smartphone capture system under professional conditions; it does not show what the phone can produce without planning, lighting, support, editing, and a strong story.
Quick Recap
Credits
- Film: “Saving Simon”
- Directors: Jason Reitman and Ivan Reitman
- Agency: TBWAMedia Arts Lab
- Media agency: OMD
- Production: Bob Industries
- Post-production/editing: Associated with Exile
- Music: “You and I” by Valerie June
- Camera campaign: Shot on iPhone 13 Pro
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