How soon will Blu Ray drives be available for Mac Mini?

[maddnomad]

Hi everybody,
The question is pretty self-explanatory. Just curious to see if anybody has information on when we could see a blu ray drive for Mac Mini (I'm assuming for Intel Duo Core machines).
Thanks!

[eawmp1]

Years from now (if ever) as an option from Apple. Now as a do-it-yourself project.

[ADent]

You can get an external from OWC.

Looks like a Pansonic Uj-225-B is a slot load SATA drive - it should fit internally.

[pigoz]

Never. Apple wants people to buy movies from iTunes.

[UltraNEO*]

Buying and installing the easy part... getting the Mac to playback movies is another task entirely. Cause until you can find an application/utility to play BD's it'll be pretty useless.

[Hellhammer]

Maybe 2015 when Blu-Ray is todays DVD

[old-wiz]

To play under OSx, you need changes in the kernel - blu-ray requires that some of the decoding be done in ring 0 to prevent illegal copying. Unfortunately, adding code in ring 0 can destabilize the system - a crash there is very bad news.

[ADent]

If you want to watch Blu-Ray movies on the mini, you just need to bootcamp Any DVD, rip it to disk, boot back into Mac OS X and play.

[darrellishere]

Im about to watch a blu-ray. Role models! I just have to boot into Vista, click on powerdvd and sit back and relax! If you really want BD get an external drive. I bought an internal sony Optrica, off ebay and it fits in my mini nicely! One day macs will support all forms of blu-ray. Otherwise they will put alot of normal, computer purchasers off , switchers and professionals.
If sony can now have a blu-ray add on for £35, then surely the prices have fallen enough. They just need to get their act together and support playback. ****** downloads ! They are ******!

[Tallest Skil]

You can buy one now. Just get a slot-load, internal Blu-ray drive and put it in.

Note: you can't watch movies in OS X at all, and to do so in Windows, you need to buy AnyDVD HD because your hardware does not support playing Blu-ray.

[thegoldenmackid]

Sometime after the Mac Pro? Probably when the new 30" display comes out but before the Powerbook G5. Basically no one knows, most would have said yesterday...

[jwhazel]

Originally Posted by old-wiz

To play under OSx, you need changes in the kernel - blu-ray requires that some of the decoding be done in ring 0 to prevent illegal copying. Unfortunately, adding code in ring 0 can destabilize the system - a crash there is very bad news.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but can you provide any more info on this?

a.) how exactly would decoding in ring 0 be any more secure? You still have to spit the results back out to userland where they can be easily captured. Theres several tools in the windows domain that do this.

b.) Bluray works fine on Win XP which does not have any native "bluray" code built into the kernel.

[MacDawg]

Originally Posted by darrellishere

One day macs will support all forms of blu-ray. Otherwise they will put alot of normal, computer purchasers off , switchers and professionals.
If sony can now have a blu-ray add on for £35, then surely the prices have fallen enough. They just need to get their act together and support playback. ****** downloads ! They are ******!

Right now, the consensus of opinion about what Apple will do disagrees with you on this. While Macs may support Blu-Ray eventually, it is far from a certainty. In addition, the supremacy of Blu-Ray is not a foregone conclusion.

As far as the 'normal' computer purchaser, I don't think Blu-Ray is a deal breaker. While I would take it if it was on my MBP, I certainly would not buy a Windows machine instead just to get it. To me Blu-Ray is a non-issue. I understand it is for others... but for those others to claim it is an absolute necessity is ludicrous in my opinion. One person's wants/needs ≠ all person's wants/needs. I may watch a movie on my MBP occasionally, but it is not primarily a movie machine for me, and I don't need Blu-Ray to do the other things I do.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

[old-wiz]

Amen to that. I wouldn't really care if a MBP or iMac had blu-ray. If I wanted to watch blu-ray I'd get a stand-alone player and use it on a big screen TV.

[cleric]

There already is a slimline slot load blu-ray drive its like $1000 though

[300D]

Originally Posted by MacDawg

As far as the 'normal' computer purchaser, I don't think Blu-Ray is a deal breaker.

It and the lack of a quad core CPU is all thats stopping me from going out and buying the top-end imac right now.

[Hellhammer]

Originally Posted by 300D

It and the lack of a quad core CPU is all thats stopping me from going out and buying the top-end imac right now.

Welcome to Apple world. Apple doesn't care about peoples opinions or what they would like to have.

[old-wiz]

Originally Posted by jwhazel

I'm not saying you're wrong, but can you provide any more info on this?

a.) how exactly would decoding in ring 0 be any more secure? You still have to spit the results back out to userland where they can be easily captured. Theres several tools in the windows domain that do this.

b.) Bluray works fine on Win XP which does not have any native "bluray" code built into the kernel.

IIRC if you run in ring 0 you can't be interrupted, so a monitoring program couldn't break the code. While I worked for many years in operating system kernels, I don't know how they want it implemented in osx. I read it a few months ago, but don't remember where.

Win XP supports HDCP, which is really what it's all about. It would be interesting to look up how it actually works. I remember reading about the osx part because I know how smart programmers don't like to put unnecessary code in ring 0. For one thing, if something goes wrong in ring 0 you can bring down the whole machine in a messy crash, with hard disks melting down, the monitor displaying a large middle finger, and the audio screaming in pain. well, maybe not that bad.

Ring 0 is not a fun place to add code; it's a pain to debug.

I could have misread something also. Maybe i'll do some searching.

[MTI]

Optical disc drives, how 20th Century . . .

[Shiner]

When hell freezes over. Apple will probably skip right over blu-ray. They have no need to add it to their lineup. They want you to buy your media from them.

[rkdiddy]

Originally Posted by Shiner

When hell freezes over. Apple will probably skip right over blu-ray. They have no need to add it to their lineup. They want you to buy your media from them.

Exactly. Funny thing is - I have a few computers and I don't know when the last time I used a drive was. It is all online or I use my SanDisk usb drive.

[300D]

Originally Posted by MTI

Optical disc drives, how 20th Century . . .

It won't be until the 22nd century when ISPs catch up to the individual bandwidth capacity required to make Full HD digital movies feasible.

When people want a movie they want it NOW, not two days from now when it finishes downloading.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by 300D

It won't be until the 22nd century when ISPs catch up to the individual bandwidth capacity required to make Full HD digital movies feasible.

When people want a movie they want it NOW, not two days from now when it finishes downloading.

Your time calculation is way off with FIOS and U-verse already being deployed. Then there's the streaming HD boxes . . . so it won't be long (certainly in less time than the life cycle of a disc format) before we're all living in Ren & Stimpy's House of next Tuesday

[300D]

Originally Posted by MTI

Your time calculation is way off with FIOS and U-verse already being deployed.

Only if you live in select cities in the eastern and western states (Texass being the oddball as usual). If you live in the central states and/or more than 100 miles from a chosen megalopolis, you're SOL.

[MTI]

Oh, you're right , I simply forgot how technology just stands still . . .