What to Buy With the iTunes Gift Card You Unwrapped Today

santa itunes gift cardIf you show an interest in Apple or technology in general, chances are good that you received at least one iTunes gift card today from a friend or family member today.

Given the card can be used to purchase apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, books, and more, it can be difficult to decide what to buy with your newly acquired funds.

We're here to help with a roundup of ongoing iTunes and App Store sales as well as some other hand-picked recommendations.

Holiday Movies on Sale

In addition to an iTunes sale on select 4K HDR movie bundles, Apple has also discounted a handful of popular holiday movies.

apple tv movies copy
- Bad Santa 2 - $2.99, down from $12.99
- Die Hard (4K) - $7.99, down from $14.99
- Elf - $9.99, down from $14.99
- Home Alone (4K) - $9.99, down from $14.99
- Love Actually - $9.99, down from $14.99
- The Holiday (4K) - $9.99, down from $12.99
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (4K) - $9.99, down from $14.99

Games on Sale

app store games holiday sales
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Classic - Free, down from $2.99
- Streets of Rage Classic - Free, down from $0.99
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - Free, down from $0.99
- Layton's Mystery Journey - $7.99, down from $15.99
- The Room Three - $1.99, down from $3.99
- Mini Metro - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Jade Empire: Special Edition - $0.99, down from $9.99
- Euclidean Lands - $0.99, down from $3.99
- After the End: Forsaken Destiny - $0.99, down from $3.99
- Old Man's Journey - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Cat Quest - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Abi: A Robot's Tale - $0.99, down from $2.99
- Jaipur: the board game - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Flower - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Vignettes - $0.99, down from $2.99
- Smash Up - The Card Game - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Oceanhorn - $3.99, down from $7.99
- Transistor - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Full Throttle Remastered - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Day of the Tentacle Remastered - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Grim Fandango Remastered - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Don't Starve: Shipwrecked - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Invisible, Inc. - $0.99, down from $4.99
- Minecraft Story Mode - S2 Episode 1 - Free, down from $4.99

Apps on Sale

holiday app sales
- Tweetbot 4 for Twitter - $4.99, down from $9.99
- Picfx - Free, down from $1.99
- TapMeasure – AR utility - Free, down from $1.99
- Focus - Productivity Timer - Free, down from $7.99
- Vectorscope - Free, down from $1.99
- Fuelly - MPG, Mileage, Service - Free, down from $5.99
- BeatMaker - Free, down from $4.99
- Timepage - Free, down from $4.99
- My Wonderful Days - Free, down from $2.99
- Halide - RAW Manual Camera - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Duet Display - $9.99, down from $19.99
- Deliveries: a package tracker - $2.99, down from $4.99
- Castro 2 - $1.99, down from $4.99
- Superimpose - Free, down from $1.99
- Meditation Studio - Free, down from $3.99

Apple Music Subscription

iTunes gift cards can be used to pay for an Apple Music subscription, which costs $9.99 per month for individuals, $14.99 per month for families with up to six people, and $4.99 per month for students in the United States and Canada. Prices and student plan availability vary by country.


Those looking for a slightly better deal on an annual Apple Music subscription should consider a 12-month Apple Music gift card, which Apple sells for $99. A 12-month subscription to Apple Music normally costs $120 when paying for the service directly with iTunes credit or another form of payment, so you can save $20.

Apple Music provides on-demand access to over 40 million songs from the iTunes catalog across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, PC, and Android.

Other Subscriptions

netlfix spotify hulu tidal
iTunes gift cards can be used to pay for many subscriptions available as in-app purchases, although prices can be higher in the App Store as some companies charge extra to make up for Apple's 30 percent cut of sales.

- Netflix
- Hulu
- Spotify
- Tidal

iBooks and Magazines

ibooks texture
iTunes gift cards are also valid for purchases on the iBooks Store across iOS and Mac, providing an opportunity to do some reading over the holidays.

- Ready Player One
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Annihilation
- Station Eleven
- It

For magazines, iPhone and iPad users can download the Texture app and subscribe to unlimited access to over 200 of the world's most popular magazines for $6.99 per month as part of an ongoing sale. Magazines can be read on up to five devices per subscription, with the ability to download issues for offline reading.

Some of the magazines available include People, Vogue, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Maxim, Men's Health, GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. New issues are available alongside a searchable archive of thousands of past issues.

Numbered Coloring Books

numbered coloring book
The latest App Store craze is numbered coloring books in which children colorize pixel art by following a numeric guide. Many of the apps have in-app purchases available to unlock additional pixel art, remove watermarks, and/or remove ads.

- Color by Number
- UNICORN
- Pixel Art - Color by Number
- Sandbox Coloring

Mitchel Broussard contributed to this report.

Popular Stories

Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple's iPhone Driver's License Feature Now Available in 11 U.S. States

Tuesday September 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...
maxresdefault

New iPad Pro With M5 Chip Leaked in Unboxing Video

Tuesday September 30, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
An apparent unboxing video for an unannounced iPad Pro with the M5 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so this is likely a legitimate leak. Based on the box shown in the video, this appears to be a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip, 256GB of...
space black mbp

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
fcc vision pro leak

FCC Accidentally Leaks Apple's Next Vision Pro

Tuesday September 30, 2025 3:48 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly confirmed Apple's work on an updated version of the Vision Pro headset. One of several documents the FCC shared today references an Apple-designed "Head Mounted Device" with a model number of A3416. An included image confirms the device is a Vision Pro. The FCC's uploads are transmission tests, SAR test reports, and...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.0.1 With Fixes for Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Camera Issues on iPhone 17 Models

Monday September 29, 2025 10:12 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 26.0.1 and iPadOS 26.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out earlier this week. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes for the update, iOS 26.0.1 addresses a bug that could cause aberrations in...
macbook pro prime day 2025

FCC Leaks Upcoming MacBook Pro and More

Tuesday September 30, 2025 1:58 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission has confirmed Apple's work on a new version of the MacBook Pro and several other products, leaking details on the devices ahead of launch. The FCC published documents that reference model numbers that do not correspond with existing devices. A3434, for example, references an unreleased MacBook Pro, while other numbers are likely for...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year

Sunday September 28, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next MacBook Pro models will enter mass production soon, according to the latest information shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he continues to believe the new MacBook Pro models will be released at some point between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, meaning they should be available to order by March at the latest. Apple often...
iOS 26

Apple Continues to Prepare iOS 26.0.1 With Multiple Bug Fixes Expected

Sunday September 28, 2025 1:30 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The account initially said iOS 26.0.1 would have a build number of 23A350, but they now expect the update to have a build number of 23A355. This suggests that the software update will include more bug fixes or changes than initially...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari. More features and changes will follow in future versions,...

Top Rated Comments

JeffyTheQuik Avatar
101 months ago
Happy Christmas everyone!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chupa Chupa Avatar
101 months ago



iBooks and Magazines


For magazines, iPhone and iPad users can download the Texture app ('https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/texture-unlimited-magazines/id533561885?mt=8') and subscribe to unlimited access to over 200 of the world's most popular magazines for $6.99 per month as part of an ongoing sale. Magazines can be read on up to five devices per subscription, with the ability to download issues for offline reading.

Some of the magazines available include People, Vogue, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Maxim, Men's Health, GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. New issues are available alongside a searchable archive of thousands of past issues.
Handy tip before anyone goes off spending $ on magazines -- Most U.S. libraries offer free magazine downloads for a bunch of titles via Rbdigital/Zinio. All you need is a library card and you can register via your libraries web site. If you want to read them on your iPhone or iPad you will also need to download the RBdigital app -- though I use the original Zinio app, but think it's because my account is so old.

Also since most local libraries have reciprocity deals with other library systems in the area if you get a card from those libraries you can download the available magazines offered by those systems. In my experience most systems offer the same assortment give or take one or two titles. But, for example, I have a card for the library in the county's next door because they offer Road and Track and my county does not.

The magazines do not need to be "returned" and can be stored on your device as long as you wish.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TMRJIJ Avatar
101 months ago
I’m still waiting on my AirPods though... :confused:

Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rictus007 Avatar
101 months ago
I didn’t get any gift card :(
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
101 months ago
Merry Christmas and happy holiday to all in MacRumors land.

Thanks for the informative article, Joe.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
101 months ago
I didn’t get any gift card :(
Buy yourself a card. That is what I did. :D
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)