This holiday season, the gift of an Apple or iTunes Gift Card grants your loved one access to their favorite apps, songs, movies and more. You do not even have to go and buy a physical gift card anymore. Apple makes it easy to purchase gift cards online and have them sent directly to your recipient via email or snail mail.

Differences Between Apple Store and iTunes Gift Cards

Even though iTunes is a service offered through Apple, iTunes gift cards are used for different things. iTunes gift cards are used for purchasing content through the iTunes Store such as TV shows, Movies, Music, Books and Apps. Apple Store gift cards, however, are used to purchase products from an Apple Store or online at apple.com. Examples include Apple Watch, iPhone, Mac or Beats headphones. You can even use an Apple Store gift card for purchases at CityMac! We accept Apple Store gift cards that have not been previously used as payment in-store.

Deciding Which One is Best

If you are unsure which gift card would be the best for your loved one, I highly recommend hinting to them - asking questions about what they are looking to get in the future. If they don’t mention a new physical Apple product and you know they use Apple products, then an iTunes gift card might be the best - allowing them to purchase content (Movies, TV Shows, Apps) for their devices. If they mention that they are looking to get a new Mac in the future, then an Apple gift card might be the best option - allowing you to help them out with that future purchase.

Purchasing and Sending a Gift Card

If you have already decided which gift card is the most appropriate for your recipient, all you need to do is head over to www.apple.com/gift-cards. At this web page, there will be two options. You can select Apple Store Gift Cards or iTunes Gift Cards.

Apple Store Gift Card

The Apple Store gift cards can be purchased online and emailed to your recipient. Once on Apple’s Gift Card webpage, simply click on the Buy link to select your gift amount and complete the transaction.

iTunes Gift Card

iTunes Gift Cards are great – they can be used for a variety of things including Music, Movies, TV Shows and Apps. To purchase and send one to someone via email, press the Send option. If you would like one mailed to them, choose the Buy option.

Gift cards make great gifts. They also allow the freedom of letting the recipient choose what they really have their eyes set on. If you have any questions about gifting gift cards, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below!