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CD/DVD drive recommendations (M1 Mac Mini)

S

strawbale

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 25, 2011
395
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French Pyrenees
Looking for a reliable CD/DVD drive to use with my M1 Mac Mini (still on Big Sur, but 'soonish' on Monterey).
Preference for tray (in stead of slot, like Apple's SuperDrive), in case a CD/DVD gets stuck inside (which has happened a few times in my built-in slot drives of earlier Mac Mini's and MacBook Pro).
 
There are numerous 3rd-party USB DVD/CD drives available. Some small and portable that work on USB bus power, others in a larger enclosure that come with their own power supply.

Some thoughts in no particular order:
- If you get a portable drive, look for one that doesn't need a "Y" cable for power. Some external drives need TWO USB ports to provide enough USB bus power (this might have been an issue with older USB2 ports/computers that is resolved now with USB3). Read the user reviews to see how a particular drive works with a Mac.

- Get a drive that also has "M-DISC" capabilities. I don't think this adds to the price, but if you burn media "for the long term", nothing has a longer lifespan than M-DISC.

- You might consider spending more money and getting a drive that is BluRay capable, as well.
 
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I used a Samsung Blu-ray usb writer on my M1 MAC Mini for the first time last week. It just worked. It’s a few years old and I used it a lot on my MacBook Pro from 2013. It’s been in a drawer for ages. Don’t need to overthink it. Anything should work. Just don’t use a drive that needs a Y cable as suggested above
 
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