External Blu-Ray for a MacBook Pro question

[DouglasCarroll]

Hi Everyone,

In 2022 what is the cheapest reliable option for an external Blu-Ray player for a MacBook pro?

Also, what version of the operating system is required? I have machines running everything from Mojave to Monterrey.

Thanks!

 

[Nermal]

Are you trying to read data discs or watch movies?

 

[Fishrrman]

Bluray USB external drives cost more than (non Bluray) DVD/CD drives.
That's a fact of optical life.

The OS shouldn't make a difference, so long as the software you're going to use (either to view BD discs or burn discs) will run on it.

 

[justashooter]

I have one of these:

ASUS SBW-06D2X-U External Blu-ray Writer - Micro Center

Get it now! This external Blu-ray writer stores up to 128GB of data on a single Blu-ray disc(BD-R QL). It uses smart burn management to guarantee better and faster data backup performance at 6X Blu-ray writing, and the attractive design has already won an iF Design Award for its innovation...

www.microcenter.com

Have had it for a number of years to write data disk for my photographs and still works great. They've gone up in price since.

 

[DouglasCarroll]

I would like to back up some of my Blu-Ray movies to my hard drive so I can archive them. I’ve already done this with all my DVD’s and would like to tackle my Blu-Ray movies now.

Anyone else have any experience with doing this and any advice?

 

[Nermal]

In that case you can probably use virtually any drive. You'll need some software such as MakeMKV to actually perform the backups.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I would like to back up some of my Blu-Ray movies to my hard drive so I can archive them. I’ve already done this with all my DVD’s and would like to tackle my Blu-Ray movies now.

Anyone else have any experience with doing this and any advice?

I do it on a regular basis, and I also use MakeMKV, which is generally the recommended way to go. You can check their forums for assistance, if you want to backup UHD Blu-Rays. Otherwise, pretty much any generic Blu-ray drive will do the trick.

 

[rgdigital]

Do any of these drives work with M1 Macs? I talked to a rep at OWC and he said the new 64bit M1 architecture isn't working with any drives.

 

[Fishrrman]

rg posted:
"Do any of these drives work with M1 Macs? I talked to a rep at OWC and he said the new 64bit M1 architecture isn't working with any drives."

Hmmm....
Let's do a little test here. Something I haven't yet tried.

Hardware:
New MacBook Pro 14" (base model, m1pro), OS 12.3.
Samsung USB CD/DVD/BluRay drive.

I plugged the drive into the MBP and put a home-burned music CD into it (don't have any BluRay discs).
The disc showed right up on the desktop, and Apple Music.app opened and played a song from it.

I don't have any BD discs, can't check as to whether one of them will mount/play or not.

I do have an app called "Free Mac BluRay Player", and that launches and runs on the MBP, even though I don't have a disc to try with it.

So I must ask:
What is this "new 64bit M1 architecture" that supposedly isn't working with any drives?

 

[dandeco]

Currently with my M1 MacBook Air, I use this MthsTec external Blu-Ray burner. It's got a USB-C connection and also USB 3.0, but it's definitely recommended you use the drive with the MacBook running on AC power. (I usually have it plugged into my LaCie TS3-Plus Thunderbolt 3 dock, so that helps a lot.)

 

[DouglasCarroll]

Thanks for the advice everyone, it's appreciated!

I was able to borrow an external USB3 BluRay drive from a co-worker, and after installing the necessary software extensions to VLC and download MakeMKV I was able to easily read the disc, rip and convert to .mp4 a couple of my BluRay movies on my 2015 MacBook Pro.

Success!

 

[Audit13]

Can an MP4 file have lossless audio and Atmos?