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 16 and 17, 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/£8.99 per month. Apple TV+ is also included in the Apple One subscription bundles, which include other Apple services, such as Apple Music, Apple News+, and up to 2TB of iCloud storage. Apple One bundles are priced between $19.95/£18.95 and $37.95/£36.95 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
Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.