DVD Players For MacBook Pro

[jmhbpc]

I’ve got a few Apple Super Drives so I can dedicate each to a Region.

I was a bit late to the notice that Apple discontinued this hardware.

So, my sort of late, perfunctory, inquiry …

What’s your go to, now for ext DVD player?

[Shamino (David C.)]

You should be able to connect any USB DVD-ROM/-R/+R/-RW/+RW drive you like. They should all “just work” with any version of macOS. Just keep in mind that a bus-powered drive will likely need to be connected directly to the Mac or to a powered hub, since unpowered hubs probably wont be able to deliver enough current.

You can also use Blu-Ray drives. Just keep in mind that Apple doesn’t include any software for playing Blu-Ray movies - you’ll need to get third-party software for that. But the Apple DVD Player app will work just fine for playing DVD movies in a BD drive.

[Halfsmoke]

DVD Players

I know this isn’t specifically a Mac/Apple question but I don’t know who else to ask so I’m hoping fellow TidBits members can help. I haven’t had a DVD player for years, thought I was done w/them. Lately I’ve found that many older movies & taped concerts aren’t available via streaming, the only way to watch them is to buy the DVD. I’m considering buying a DVD player so I can watch old movies/concerts but it’s been so long since I’ve used a DVD player, I don’t know anything about them anymore. …

Apple SuperDrive has no manual eject!

I’ve been using a USB SuperDrive for a long time (since 2011). And it’s been working great all this time. Until tonight, when, while ripping an old album from CD (Jesus Christ Superstar), the disc wouldn’t eject. I’d push the button. The mechanism would make all the usual sounds, but the disc wouldn’t come out. Failed several times. For some crazy reason, I assumed that this drive, like most other optical drives, has a mechanism for a manual eject. Like a pinhole where you could insert a …

[TonyTownsend]

I’ve bought two of these and been very pleased. The manual eject button is a big plus.

LG,Portable External 8X Double… Amazon.com: LG,Portable External 8X Double Layer DVDRW Super Multi Blade Drive : Electronics

[jmhbpc]

Are you running this bus powered drive off of MacBook Pro M4?

Not scientific, but my gut is telling me, as Apple sunsets the DVD experience, that they might be skimping on the power specs on USB ports for their laptops

[fischej (Jeff Fischer)]

@TonyTownsend

The manual eject button is a big plus.

I don’t have a drive handy to test this with, but I seem to remember that in the olden days when you got a floppy stuck in your Mac or external reader, rebooting while holding down the mouse button would eject it. I wonder if there’s any chance that vestige of System 7 (or earlier) is still lurking in macOS (and apply to a DVD drive)?

[Shamino (David C.)]

@jmhbpc

my gut is telling me, as Apple sunsets the DVD experience, that they might be skimping on the power specs on USB ports for their laptops

There are specific requirements if they want to remain compatible with the USB standards. This includes 500 mA power for USB 2.0 devices and 900 mA for USB 3.0 devices.

Apple’s SuperDrive uses non-standard extensions to the protocol in order to get more than 500 mA over USB 2.0 without implementing the Power Delivery spec. I suppose Apple might stop supporting that feature in the future, but they haven’t done so yet, and it’s been a while since they stopped supporting the SuperDrive.

As for third-party drives, none of them require Apple’s proprietary extensions, because that would make them incompatible with PCs. So they should work just fine with any Mac.

Apple is not going to stop supporting basic USB functionality because that would break all kinds of other bus-powered devices, including portable hard drives, SSDs, web cameras and game controllers. The bad press from a decision like that would be disastrous and they know it.

[TonyTownsend]

Yep, that still works.