The Christmas season is starting, and there’s good news for fans of the Peanuts holiday specials. Apple will make the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Christmas available for everyone to stream free later this month, whether they’re an Apple TV subscriber or not.
That gives everyone the opportunity to watch Linus teach his friends what Christmas is all about.
Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas for free without Apple TV sub
The classic cartoon finds Charlie Brown feeling down about the commercialism of Christmas. Becoming the director of the gang’s holiday play is surely the way to get into the holiday spirit. Can he overcome his friends’ preference for dancing over acting, find the “perfect” tree, and discover the true meaning of Christmas?
Apple owns the rights to all Peanuts holiday specials, and A Charlie Brown Christmas is open to all on December 13 and 14 this year.
Of course, the Christmas special is available to Apple TV subscribers at any time.
Apple users play the holiday classic through the Apple TV application, which is available in the App Store for iPhone and iPad. There’s also a Mac version in that app store. Install any or all of these as you would any software.
Once you have the application installed and running, look around for A Charlie Brown Christmas (direct link).
Watch free on Windows and Android
But enjoying the classic holiday special doesn’t require an Apple TV, Mac or any other Apple device. The service is watchable on a computer running Windows or Chrome OS, and accessing Apple’s video content is as easy as visiting its website. The same goes for Android phones and tablets. You’ll access the Peanuts special in a browser. You can jump straight to the A Charlie Brown Christmas page.
Access on Roku and Amazon Fire requires signing up for a free trial of the Apple TV service. Download the Apple TV application on your streaming box or smart TV, agree to the trial, then lean back and enjoy.
Buy A Charlie Brown Christmas on DVD
Those who want anytime access to the Peanuts Christmas special and don’t want to subscribe to Apple TV can buy the DVD. It’s available for under $15.
And get ready for New Year’s Eve with the Peanuts gang
While the holiday classic is free to watch later this month, Peanuts fans might want a subscription to Apple TV. The service also offers It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales, two collections of holiday-themed vignettes. Plus, there’s I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown.
Looking ahead, get ready to enjoy Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne, a fresh New Year’s Eve special created by Apple.
Beyond holiday specials, Apple TV offers The Snoopy Show starring the irrepressible beagle — a series that has a 100% critics’ approval score on Rotten Tomatoes. And don’t miss the delightful Camp Snoopy, too.
Apple TV is $12.99 a month, and includes a wide variety of other children’s’ programs, too.
This guide to watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for free was first published in December 2022. It’s been updated with the latest information.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
