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How to watch a Bluray

talmy said:
There's a reasonably long and recent thread about this here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/a-blu-ray-player-and-software-for-2017-imac-27.2060170/
Click to expand...

Thanks that thread didn't help.

I bought a disk of a TV series I like at the local used movies & music store, and it was Bluray. The girl said it would play in my computer, but she obviously knows nothing about Macs.

I'm wondering if Bluray is worth the hassle?

Would I be better off to return it and ask for the DVD version, or can I play a Bluray on my Mac with minimal cost and effort?

Like I said, I believe the Pioneer external drive I bought is okay, it's just apparently you need software too?

I don't want to spend a bunch of money just to watch this disk, plus I always worry about outside software having bugs or adware or malware on it. :-(

Any suggestions?
 
You can download the makemkv software (see the linked thread), which has a 30 day trial, to rip the disk, then you can view it with VLC. But it looks like the best bet is to buy a $50 bluray player and attach it to a TV set.
 
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There is no freeware that will provide complete menu support for Blu-ray discs as full support requires a Java 2.0 license.

Makemkv is freeware software for ripping discs but you need to rip it one episode at a time. Makemkv will not work on recent releases. Also, movies that have BD Java protection with playlist obfuscation is a major pain too.

You could create an unprotected ISO of the disc but ISO playback requires menu support.
 
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Audit13 said:
There is no freeware that will provides complete menu support for Blu-ray discs as full support requires a Java 2.0 license.

Makemkv is freeware software for ripping discs but you need to rip it one episode at a time. Makemkv will not work on recent releases. Also, movies that have BD Java protection with playlist obfuscation is a major pain too.

You could create an unprotected ISO of the disc but ISO playback requires menu support.
Click to expand...

Is Makemkv safe software to install on my Mac?

Does it have any adware or spyware on it?

For now, I just want a way to watch Bluray movies - I don't rip and burn.

If I have to spend $30-$50 on software, then I'm not sure that Bluray makes sense for me, unless someone feels differently.

Still seems like most of the used movies I want are still on DVD.

What do you think?
 
Texas_Toast said:
Is Makemkv safe software to install on my Mac?

Does it have any adware or spyware on it?

For now, I just want a way to watch Bluray movies - I don't rip and burn.

If I have to spend $30-$50 on software, then I'm not sure that Bluray makes sense for me, unless someone feels differently.

Still seems like most of the used movies I want are still on DVD.

What do you think?
Click to expand...
It is safe with no adware. It is a good program.
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
It is safe with no adware. It is a good program.
Click to expand...

How much does it cost?

Is it worth buying if most of the movies I watch are DVDs?

Or is it inevitable that I will need to upgrade to Bluray, sorta like switching from VHS to DVD?
 
Makemkv is freeware so there is no need to buy it at the moment unless things change in the future.

If you are watching the Blu-ray discs on a TV, it may be simpler to buy a stand-alone player and connect it directly to the TV.

I don't watch movies on anything other than my TV. I use a HTPC for playback of all my videos. I go for Blu-rays whenever possible.
 
Audit13 said:
Makemkv is freeware so there is no need to buy it at the moment unless things change in the future.

If you are watching the Blu-ray discs on a TV, it may be simpler to buy a stand-alone player and connect it directly to the TV.

I don't watch movies on anything other than my TV. I use a HTPC for playback of all my videos. I go for Blu-rays whenever possible.
Click to expand...

Um, this is a Mac forum...

Why does everyone keep bringing up TVs?

I said in my OP that I am trying to watch a Bluray movie on an external DVD player hooked up to my MacBook Pro...
 
Texas_Toast said:
How much does it cost?

Is it worth buying if most of the movies I watch are DVDs?

Or is it inevitable that I will need to upgrade to Bluray, sorta like switching from VHS to DVD?
Click to expand...
If you use the program mainly for DVDs, you won't need to buy. If you will use it primarily to extract Blu-Ray files past 30 days you will, as it has a 30 day test. I believe it is $49.00 to buy.
 
What I don’t think has been mentioned is that your MBP drive won’t read Blu-ray disks. You will need to buy a third party external (USB) Blu-ray drive to read the disks to be able to rip them. DVD drives generally can’t read Blu-ray. The short answer to “how do I watch Blu-ray on my MBP?” is: with great difficulty. That’s why people keep mentioning TVs.
 
Original post didn't mention that the video was to appear on the Macbook. I assumed that the video was to appear on a TV with the macbook running a software media player.

Commercial software is required to enable full Blu-ray menu support whether the image appears on the macbook or TV.
 
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Longkeg said:
What I don’t think has been mentioned is that your MBP drive won’t read Blu-ray disks. You will need to buy a third party external (USB) Blu-ray drive to read the disks to be able to rip them. DVD drives generally can’t read Blu-ray. The short answer to “how do I watch Blu-ray on my MBP?” is: with great difficulty. That’s why people keep mentioning TVs.
Click to expand...
I think no one has mentioned the internal drive, as the OP said in first post (and again in a later post) that he is trying to use an external DVD/Bluray burner for viewing bluray movies. (If I recall correctly, OP has a retina MBPro running Sierra, so the only choice for optical drive is external.
 
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Longkeg said:
What I don’t think has been mentioned is that your MBP drive won’t read Blu-ray disks. You will need to buy a third party external (USB) Blu-ray drive to read the disks to be able to rip them. DVD drives generally can’t read Blu-ray. The short answer to “how do I watch Blu-ray on my MBP?” is: with great difficulty. That’s why people keep mentioning TVs.
Click to expand...

It seems people didn't read my OP very carefully...

I said I have a Bluray external drive for my MBP... :rolleyes:
[doublepost=1515901883][/doublepost]
Audit13 said:
Original post didn't mention that the video was to appear on the Macbook. I assumed that the video was to appear on a TV with the macbook running a software media player.

Commercial software is required to enable full Blu-ray menu support whether the image appears on the macbook or TV.
Click to expand...

No, you just didn't read what I said...
[doublepost=1515901933][/doublepost]
DeltaMac said:
I think no one has mentioned the internal drive, as the OP said in first post (and again in a later post) that he is trying to use an external DVD/Bluray burner for viewing bluray movies. (If I recall correctly, OP has a retina MBPro running Sierra, so the only choice for optical drive is external.
Click to expand...

At least @DeltaMac read what I said... :apple:
 
You need to pay for a software Blu-ray player application like MacGo Blu-ray Player Pro ($40). I had an older version that worked decently but no longer works with Sierra/High Sierra.

I chose not to upgrade because I don't enjoy the Blu-ray viewing experience on my Mac. Some shortcomings: awkward menu navigation, the drive itself is louder than my standalone Blu-ray player, and there's no simple remote.

There's no freeware Blu-ray player because of the licensing fees which are not insignificant. Steve Jobs called Blu-ray a "big bag of pain" and refused to pay the licensing fees which is why Macs don't have native Blu-ray playing. Steve thought that optical media was a dead end which is also why Apple no longer sells Macs with built-in optical disc drives.

So the only thing I do today with my Mac's external Blu-ray drive is to rip the occasional Blu-ray disc (with MakeMKV).
 
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As others above have noted, I know of no program which give you the complete blu-ray experience which you get using a dedicated blu-ray player with your 1080p or 4k TV.

You can, however, play individual titles (without menus) with MPlayer (free):

https://mplayerosx.ch

I have seen some comments about how to enable decryption in MPlayer so it may be possible to play a "native" disk. However I rip my blu-rays to disk mkvs via MakeMKV, and use MPlayer to play from there. It supports subtitle and audio track selection, and it seems to play DTS-MA audio.
 
The OP is a "security freak". Probably the worst one I've ever seen.

As such, the Mac software solutions that will play Bluray "directly" will be unacceptable to him/her. They all require that the app "phone home" for purposes of decoding the source material.

He may not want to go the "rip them using makemkv" either.
But that's [essentially] THE ONLY WAY to "get Bluray to Mac" without using "Bluray playback software for the Mac" (as mentioned above).

For this reason, the only realistic solution for the OP is the one that talmy mentions above:
Buy a standalone Bluray player and hook it up to the TV.
 
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