SuperDrive?

[dvvdv]

Why did Apple get rid of the SuperDrive? There is a USB SuperDrive but its got crap reviews, and doesn't even have an eject button!

I mean, it would work great on a desktop iMac, but on a portable device you shouldn't need to carry a disc drive around?

Was there any reason for this? Its the only thing stopping me from upgrading my MacBook!

 

[Dark Void]

The short answer is most users don't have a need for optical disc media and therefore it makes more sense to remove it from the laptop. This allows for an overall less cumbersome internal design.

 

[jerryk]

I am surprised anyone uses a DVD or CD reader anymore

 

[Clix Pix]

I still use my external SuperDrive from time to time....mostly to burn copies of an album or two from iTunes that I want to also be able to enjoy in my (older) car; no connections for my iPhone in the car but I can still enjoy CDs in its CD player. Occasionally I will also use my SuperDrive to watch a movie on DVD that I don't have in my iTunes library.....and I can plug the SuperDrive into any of my computers and enjoy the film. When Apple first removed the internal SuperDrive from its computers I said, "oh, no, WHY??!!" but then realized just how infrequently I had been using it anyway and certainly I don't use it that often these days, either. None of my computers has an internal optical drive any more and I really do not miss it.

 

[willmtaylor]

Why did Apple get rid of the SuperDrive? There is a USB SuperDrive but its got crap reviews, and doesn't even have an eject button!

I mean, it would work great on a desktop iMac, but on a portable device you shouldn't need to carry a disc drive around?

Was there any reason for this? Its the only thing stopping me from upgrading my MacBook!

Welcome to 2011!

The SuperDrive works just fine in my experience.

There are other options if you’re so inclined.

 

[EugW]

on a portable device you shouldn't need to carry a disc drive around

That's exactly why they got rid of it in the Mac laptops of course.

Just about about nobody uses them anymore. Well, nobody is an exaggeration. Only 99.9% don't use them anymore.

Seriously though, I never travel with one, but I have a couple of legacy ones at home just in case.

 

[Dark Void]

I'm actually a user that prefers CDs.

I just like them, and have always found them to be reliable. My MacBook Pro from 2010 has an optical drive and I left it in, and I used it quite often. It has a Snow Leopard disc that I can use to reformat the computer at any time. I miss the days of receiving operating system and application discs with computers.

It can almost be equated to a collecting point of view; having physical media that you can touch. I am bias towards that idea, while I do realize the benefits and overall superiority of digital technologies such as the Cloud, faster transfer/storage peripherals, etc.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

They got rid of it because it takes a lot of space in a laptop, and fewer and fewer people are using them regularly. Just get a USB one. Don't both with the Apple official SuperDrive, get a third party one. I use a Pioneer BDR-XD07J-UHD. It's small, bus-powered, and supports burning 100GB Blu-ray discs for making backups (with Roxio Toast software.)

There are cheaper ones out there if you mainly want them for DVD, not Blu-ray.