Apple USB SuperDrive

Yes, as everyone tells you, it is expensive compared with other similar items available. However there is a reason and that is because the Apple SuperDrive is very well made indeed. Not only that, it is efficient and usually very quiet. Quality-wise nothing comes close. I also have an LG external DVD-RW drive and it is absolutely fine, well-made and does the job it is designed for at a third the cost. It's a tray type though, so no slot. And it's plastic and light-weight and tends to vibrate. It does have advantages though, one is the price and the other is M-Disk compatibility; the new breed of disk that is designed to last a very long time before it deteriorates. Apple don't really give much away about their SuperDrive but I suspect it isn't compatible with M-Disk. Happy to be proved wrong though. The SuperDrive is USB 2.0, like the LG, but will obviously work on USB 1.1 or USB 3.0 ports. The reason for the apparent "slowness" is because the reality is DVD or CD streaming doesn't require faster, and when burning a disk the actual act of preparing the data is usually slower than the theoretical maximum burn-rate of the drive at around 8x speed. Unless, of course, you have serious computing power in which case I doubt you'd consider a USB external DVD drive anyway. If you are considering a cheaper drive - and why not? - check it covers all your likely bases, use-wise. Some of the drives out there may look the same but only "burn" CDs while still being able to "read" DVDs. Others can "burn" CDs and DVD+R format blank disks only. DVD-R disks are a no-go. It can get complicated. The cable attached to the SuperDrive is short - approx 9-inches. So fine for an iMac or newer Mac Pro. Fine for a Mac mini too but it will have to sit directly alongside so check you have desk space. Apple recommend you don't put the drive on top of your Mac mini. In conclusion the SuperDrive is a very high-quality item but the cost is not cheap, especially with UK VAT etc. If you want peace of mind and a device that is compact because of the slot-loading then the SuperDrive is recommended. It is generally very quiet and fuss-free.

I have a DVD of a dictionary that is a bit old and damaged. Several times since I bought it I had installed it and each time the installation process was harder than before with more errors regarding the scratches on the DVD surface. When I bought a new macbook pro I tried my luck to install it again but this time I experienced many troubles. Nothing worked, I tried 2 external DVD players and an internal DVD player (on a PC to take an image) but all failed. At last I came into buying an Apple superdrive and surprisingly it worked. It copied the whole files in less than 5 minutes with variable speed. Slower for the defective parts and very fast for the healthy parts. Then I installed my dictionary and tested the app. All works well. I can say my previous non-Apple drive was ignoring some of the I/O errors because the files were copied but with different sizes compare to the original ones. So as a result I do recommend this high quality DVD player/recorder. It really worth the price.

Speedy delivery. Excellent packaging. The soft sponge packaging that surrounds the Apple Superdrive is sensational. Item delivered without any scratches or faulty wiring. There is see through protective seal on the outer case and this can be peeled off when you open the cardboard box. The superdrive is solid and the colour matches iPhones, iPads, iPods, mac minis. Usb connector is easy to install in my Mac Mini. Superdrive worked within seconds. Discs can be loaded by pushing them into the horizontal slot at the front. No plug and it is portable. You could carry this in your pocket, bag or rucksack. Plays cds, dvds. No blu ray. Beautiful piece to display beside your mac computer. It's made by Apple.

I got myself a 15" Retina MacBook Pro and thought I wouldn't need the disc drive as seeing I didn't use it in my old MBP. But isn't it funny how you suddenly need something when it isn't there? I started getting music CD's and DVD's lent to me and begrudgingly bought this. To my l pleasant surprise, it works brilliantly and I've found myself using it quite regularly. It's as simple as plugging the USB into the port and inserting a disc and thats that. It runs completely silent and if you do knock it about while it's in use, it has a great level of shock absorbing. My only issue is that the cable is far too short and that it could have played Blu Rays, but I know Apple's issue with that, so I won't fuss about it. It's a great little disc drive and I recommend it.

This is a great product that I have used for many years. Yes I do love everything digital but I do have some legacy CDs and DVDs and without this little drive they would be lost for ever. I hope Apple will continue supporting it for another decade and even wish they consider making a new version with a USB-C connector.

I have the 27" 5k retina Mac, and I got this drive to use with it. Straight out of the quality packaging, it works like a dream, do each and every task I ask of it. People on here bang on about the lead being too short, but take no notice, its plenty long enough to reach up around the back of my Mac and then some. I have a windows OS on my Mac as-well and it is recognized by that also. It burns, it plays DVD,s it does every task I ask it too, and the build quality and operation are the quality you expect from Apple, it costs a bit more than other drives, but hey...its Apple and its very cool, buy it buy it buy it, you won't be disappointed.

So I originally ordered the Pioneer BDR-XS07TS. It looks similar and it also a slot loading drive. But it's twice the price and it just has insultingly cheap build quality at £120. I sent that back. This might not handle Blu Ray discs, but it's exactly what I wanted in terms of build quality. Sturdy, takes the discs nicely, and when loading it's quiet. It doesn't make a meal out of reading discs with the laser head banging around. I don't understand what others are saying when they call it noisy. If you want to hear noisy, try out most other plastic slim external DVD writers. Idk, maybe apple updated the driver in macOS Monterey. So far this seems slower, but quiet. But that's perfect for me. Because it means it's ideal for watching DVDs and listening to music CDs. Something which wasn't really something I'd consider on my old Samsung SE-208, because that was loud. The only thing it was good for was extracting data from a disc or writing it. I've realised that you get what you pay for. And at £65, this isn't some over priced apple product. What I've found it to be is a very well built high quality DVD writer. EDIT: There is some pretty major design flaws here. The only way to power this is by USB, fine, we knew that, but the powering requirements are really high. It requires a USB 3 socket with a direct connection to your mac. Nearly all powered USB 3 hubs won't work. I say nearly, because there are some expensive ones by OWC which claim to be able to do that. But that's a thunderbolt powered hub. I've also tried using a two USB to one cable on a powered USB 2 hub whch works for other external optical drives. This is basically a USB 2 cable which uses two sockets, one for power and data and the second for extra power and that's still not enough. On, top of this power requirement, it has quite a short cable at the rear of the device limiting what you can do with it. If you only want to use it for entertainment like watching DVDs, listening to CDs or just extracting data from a disc, you can use a USB 3 extension cable. But if you want to use it as a writer, it won't really work with an extension cable. I will at least say it's fantastic for media use, because it's so well built and quiet at the job, I mean it's not not too bad for the money there, but £65 is the absolute limit for that. It's a massive flaw for apple to have such high power requirements and not give you the option of powering it also with an adapter or selling a seperate accesory that would help boost the power to the USB cable. For this reason I have to reduce it from 5 stars to 3 stars. I'd love to at least give it 4 stars, but it's too much of a design flaw to me and severely effects it's flexibility to use it where you want in your set up. I still want to keep mine, because it's still the best external drive of it's type, with most others feeling cheap and plasticy. At least on the M1 mac mini you could probably have it sit on top of the Mac, because the M1 mac mini doesn't make much heat, but you can't do that on an older Intel mac mini.

I bought this to be able to load my Family Tree software as it is only available as a disc. I could have bought a cheaper USB external drive which had good reviews but this one is superior, like owning a porsche instead of an audi. It has the same sleek, smooth aluminium feel as the MacBook Air and the disc operation is sublime. You can tell that I just love it and am so happy that I chose this one above the others. It came shrink wrapped and in a solid quality box as all apple products do. A good price and no hassle delivery from Amazon. Buy it, you'll be glad you did.