My macbooks internal cddvd drive reads dvds just fine. Apples external superdrive can work on older model macs. However, if you do not feel comfortable or have the time to perform the. You do not need to open the computer at all thus saving yourself a lot of hassle and anxiety. After watching these videos, it should be clear that installing an optical drive in all mac pro models is straightforward. Macbook pro unibody model a1278 early 2011 late 2011 mid 2012 sata superdrive cable. Heres an easy way to clean slotloading cd and dvd drives like the. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a macbook pros superdrive sun, 2008. More likely, the drives lens is dirty or the drive is simply broken or nearly so.
Play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers. So every macbook have got a superdrive, which goes wrong because of a key. You can connect this superdrive with your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac, or mac mini with a single usb type a cable, which is built into this superdrive. The datadoubler converts the optical drive cable to fit perfectly to the bracket, since it will not mate with an ssd without it. If that fails, open the mbp and open the optical drive and take out the offending cd or let apple do it. Expand the 2012 macbook pros with an owc data doubler. I replaced the optical drive in my macbook pro with a ssd and put the optical drive in a portable usb enclosure from other world computing. This slim dell usb dvd rw drive fits into a tote bag, and it draws power directly from the computers usb port for hasslefree operation. Replacing optical drive with ssd in mid 2012 macbook pro. Replacing the primary optical drive or installing a second optical drive in the mac pro models is a simple procedure, but installation instructions still are useful nevertheless.
How to clean a macbooks dvd drive computer cleaner resolved. Get help with the slotloading superdrive on your mac. As the title suggests, i am looking to replace my optical drive with an ssd drive. The case itself may be riveted together preventing opening it i just dont remember if this is the case or not. With simplicity, this external drive has stateoftheart technology. Shaking a cdmini disk out may work, if its a full sized cddvd then the mechanical was engaged and trapped it inside.
The inch notebook had not been updated since june 2012, but it remained available for. Optical bay hard drive or ssd mounting solution for imac. But you can still use cds, dvds, blurays, and other optical discs on your mac. How to clean a macbooks dvd drive computer cleaner. The optical drive weighs 175g about 4% of the total the battery weighs 400g. Jun 07, 2017 for computers that did not ship with an optical drive and do not have the apple usb superdrive, you can use cd or dvd sharing to access a cd or dvd in another computers optical drive. Apr 01, 2011 is a great resource for a detailed photo walkthrough of the steps to remove the optical drive from your mac. The tricks here are similar to how youd access an optical drive on a windows ultrabook or similar pc that doesnt include an optical drive of its own. Once at it, i couldnt resist to open and clean the dvdrw drive. I myself have never done this and i dont know if it can be done from recollection. Then remove the three screws securing the superdrive in.
If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your movies and music to itunes, or just access the content on your discs. Oct 28, 20 the optical drive debate has taken up many an afternoon at the cnet labs, but the clear trend, at least for laptops with screens under 15 inches, is to drop it, especially now that so much of your. Feb 11, 2014 i rarely used the superdrive in my 2009 macbook pro. The tricks here are similar to how youd access an optical drive on a windows ultrabook or. Macbook, macbook air, and macbook pro models with usbc ports require a usbc to usb adapter sold separately to use apple. If your macbook is still under warranty or you have applecare for it, put it in apples hands. One fix for nonfunctioning superdrive mac os x hints. Jun 06, 2017 play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers the audio hardware in some macbook pro, mac pro, and imac computers supports 176. When you see a disc type thats labeled as bluray, youll know that the drive can support a doublelayer dvd, since it supports a bluray disc. How to replace your macbooks optical drive with an ssd. Tweet share post just before the latest macbook pro s aapl updates were released, rumors swirled that the new models would adopt solidstate drives ssd in addition to hard disk drives hdd and drop internal optical dvd drives across the line. I pushed it into the slot and ran it through for a few seconds just once and, voila a.
Five reasons to still love the inch macbook pro classic cnet. This drive works just like any other optical drive but keep in mind this external usb dvd burner uses 2. Jan 08, 2009 i gave up on my early2008 macbook pro optical drive early. Apple no longer sells a mac with a cd drive macrumors. However, in every tutorial i have looked up, they are either replacing the hdd with an ssd or they are replacing the optical with an ssd after they have already replaced the hdd with a ssd so that the macbook will now have two ssds, one in the optical drive and one replacing the hdd. Some one recommended a laserlens cleaner, but i was skeptical. Macbook pro unibody late 2011 optical drive replacement. But in 2011, a friends kid wanted to watch a dvd on my. How to use cds, dvds, and blurays on a mac without an. Apples macbook air, along with many other macs, no longer includes an optical drive. You can do the same with the standard macbook pros, except you can put something even more useful in its place. Finally i bought this allsop ultra prolens cleaner, a cd with tiny carbon fiber brushes on the business side of the disc. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a macbook pros superdrive. Use this clever way to clean a macs superdrive engadget.
Clean your laptops slotloading dvd drive with a credit card. Oct 27, 2016 apple has discontinued its nonretina legacy macbook pro, the last mac it sold with a builtin cddvd drive. Macbook pro optical drive removal bootcamp digital spy. Rather than buy a new one i prefer to save on weight. I gave up on my early2008 macbook pro optical drive early. Five reasons to still love the inch macbook pro classic. Handy for using on the road with a macbook air or retina macbook pro. The apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. Sometimes you may need to reinstall os x on a computer, but the drive is broken, resulting in an obvious problem with reading the installation dvd. Cleaning the laser lens with 90% isopropyl alcohol would be the first thing. Jan 19, 2011 dont let having a broken optical drive force you into buying a whole new macbook.
If these fail, turn your mbp in an orientation where gravity is your ally and shake it with a vacuum cleaner engaged. Macbook pro 15 unibody early 2011 optical drive replacement. Apple claims that its usb superdrive has everything you need in an optical drive. The storebought ones were fine theyre manufactured differently.
How to clean slim slotin dvd laser from dust youtube. When a slotin dvd drive stops recognizing inserted dvd or cd media, the first thing to do is to try cleaning the laser lens with a lenscleaning. The apple usb superdrive has a slightly longer 340mm cable compared to the cable on the macbook air superdrive 250mm. The optical drives in your computer require constant cleaning than any other part of your computer. How to clean a dvd superdrive using a cre apple community. Now, i know that you have to purchase a caddy to place the ssd drive in and all that jazz. May 31, 2012 the optical drive case is machined to be sealed shut, opening the machine to try to get the disk out that way wont work. I placed the optical drive in an external slim usb enclosure so i could continue to use it, and i also have an external bluray drive for any dvds or cds that i might need. If you think youll need an external drive mostly for bluray discs. Cddvd drive work by focusing laser light from the drive lens, to the disk and then reads data by the light reflected from the disk. I had tried the dvd cleaner thing with the brushes. Its obvious apple is moving away from the optical drive as a media source. A lot of times a persons builtin optical drive fails, and they see the new external at the apple store.
Hi guys, this is a brilliant procedure to clean the optical head of the dvd superdrive on a mac mini late 2009 edition or other macs using the slot loading dvd superdrive. If you have the guts to physically open the optical drive, you could try cleaning the laser if you can get to it with 90% isopropyl alcohol. I cant remember the last time there was anything i needed to read or load from a cd. Apple computers without a builtin optical drive can connect an external apple usb superdrive or macbook air superdrive to read optical media such as cds and dvds. The inch notebook had not been updated since june 2012, but. So my optical drive failed in my late 2011 mbp so i whipped it out and replaced it with an ssd clean installed osx sierra trying to reinstall windows 10 in bootcamp but i get a message saying no optical drive connected, so i borrow an external dvd drive but it wont start the installation im using the same dvd disk as i had previously used in the internal drive ive also tried using s. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a macbook. Dec 15, 2014 apples macbook air, along with many other macs, no longer includes an optical drive. How do you clean a slotloading dvd drive on a macbook. The optical drive debate has taken up many an afternoon at the cnet labs, but the clear trend, at least for laptops with screens under 15 inches, is. So, lately ive been having problems with my dvd player on my macbook. This laptop still features true tone display technology that automatically adjusts white balance to match the color temperature of the surround light, and the apples t2 coprocessor chip. I havent found anything on apples website, and the opinions.
Probably people living in the suburbs are better off regarding the required cleaning frequency of their optical drives. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a. The optical drive uses pata instead of sata and is older transfer speed. Phillip takahashi and 4 other contributors comments. I would recommend taking the back cover off the macbook exposing the ram, hdd, and optical drive. In my ancient powerbook, it was failing very hard reading dvds and sometimes they would get stuck.
But some others also suggested the lens might require cleaning. Apple macbook pro, retina display, 8gb ram, with and. Plug it into your computers usb port to play and burn discs or to load new software onto the hard drive. For anyone who has stripped a screw in step 8 this note might make your day. I put my hdd in a caddie to put it instead of the optical drive but my macbook keep disconnecting it. Pull the optical drive cable away from the optical drive. I have read in many forums that this is a dead condition for dvd drive, and should be replaced. Replacing optical drive with ssd in mid 2012 macbook pro hey. Macbook dvd drive fix repair cddvd drive wont read discs. As i dove for the couch cushions in search of spare change to add to my computer upgrade fund, i considered that i. Be sure to pull on the connector, not the cable itself. Play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers the audio hardware in some macbook pro, mac pro, and imac computers supports 176. See the compatibility list for mac computers and the apple usb superdrive or the macbook air superdrive. Optical disc drive specifications contain a variety of symbols, letters and numbers.
Cd dvd drive work by focusing laser light from the drive lens, to the disk and then reads data by the light reflected from the disk. This tip comes to us from tuaw the unofficial apple weblog, and while its meant for macbooks that have slotloading dvd drives or external. The airinacan worked on my 2006 macbook pro just fine. Slide the superdrive out and disconnect the sata wire connecting the superdrive to the logic board. And since it can support a doublelayer disc, it can also support a dvd, which means it can support a cd. Apple has discontinued its nonretina legacy macbook pro, the last mac it sold with a builtin cddvd drive. Dont let having a broken optical drive force you into buying a whole new macbook. Whether you use your laptops optical drive or not, its important to keep it clean so its there for you when you need it. Play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers apple. I rarely used the superdrive in my 2009 macbook pro.
At the time, the lack of an optical drive was a unique feature for the companys new ultralight notebook, and the macbook and macbook pro units of its day still unquestionably arrived with. All of these macbook pro unibody models can hold a 9. Apple provides official support for individuals installing optical drive s in the mac pro, as well. The photo diodes present in the drive, detects and decodes the information contained in the laser beam. This video will show you how easy it is to replace the optical drive on your macbook. Diy how to fix an apple slot loading cd dvd drive youtube. Id need to know where i could find the connector between the optical drive and the logicboard.