Christmas season is here, and there are lots of ways to get into the spirit of the season. One way is to watch a Christmas special on TV, and one of the best is A Charlie Brown Christmas. For decades, it aired on broadcast TV, but that’s no longer the case–it’s now an Apple TV exclusive.
Now, the fact that this institution is on a streaming service may cause you to exclaim, “Bah! Humbug!” and send Apple a stocking full of coal, but stop, sip some egg nog, and relax–yes, I’m talking about you, Uncle Fred. Apple is making A Charlie Brown Christmas available to anyone to watch for free, for a limited time. If you are an Apple TV subscriber, however, you can watch it anytime.
How to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas for free on Apple TV
On December 13 and 14, anyone with an Apple ID can watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. Anyone who owns an Apple device has an Apple ID, but if you don’t, Apple IDs are free and you don’t need a credit card to sign up. Once you have signed up, you can watch in several ways:
- Through the TV app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- On smart TVs with the Apple TV app.
- On the web at tv.apple.com.
- On an Apple TV device.
Apple has all the classic Peanuts specials for the holiday season that used to air over broadcast TV. There is one more holiday special left for the season, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, but it doesn’t seem likely that it will be made available for free.
In case you missed them and your holiday season isn’t complete without watching them, you can watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on Apple TV–but they aren’t free anymore. You need to have an Apple TV subscription.
Years ago, Apple acquired the rights to the Peanuts cartoon series that stars Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, and other memorable characters. Since then, Apple has aired new Peanuts shows such as The Snoopy Show and Snoopy in Space, and new movies, including Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10, Lucy’s School, and It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown.
The Apple TV subscription television streaming service is $9.99/£9.99 per month and can be renewed annually for $99/£99. Apple TV is also included in the Apple One subscription bundles, which include other Apple services, such as Apple Music, Apple News+, and iCloud storage. Apple One bundles are priced between $19.95/£19.95 and $37.95/£37.95 per month. There are ways to get Apple TV+ for free, though–see: All the ways you can get Apple TV for free.
For more information about Apple TV, read our Apple TV FAQ. We also have a detailed list of current Apple TV shows and upcoming shows.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.