Can you plug in the MacBook Air Superdrive to one of the USB ports?

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Yes it works fine. I just installed software packages just fine with it plugged into the USB port on the monitor

• Answered by Christopher V from Austin
• Feb 13, 2011
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WILL NOT WORK!

While the above poster is right in that the USB port will fit, the superdrive will not work as a drive on your Macbook Air. If you do a google search for using the Air Superdrive on a USB hub (which is essentially what the ports on the back of the display are) you will find many reports of people finding that their drives do not function while on the USB hub. This means the Air Superdrive ONLY works when plugged into the USB port on the Macbook Air itself! This is a limitation of the Air Superdrive, which about 2 years ago was thought to be that the Air Drive required too much power for a normal USB port (500ma max current, when burning a DVD the Air Drive needs 950ma current), however, more recently it was found that the computer chip that converted the signal from the drive to a USB signal was doing a "handshake" with the Macbook Air, and that it would not do this handshake when plugged into another computer, or a USB hub, including the USB hub built into the display.

• Answered by Holger K from Belmont
• Sep 24, 2010
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I have a Mac Mini 2011, and the drive 'works' with the 27" Thunderbolt display with one hiccup.

When I insert an Audio CD (both commercially purchased and burned) the system reports that it is a blank CD. I have to eject the disk, re-insert it, and then the system reads the CD fine. Its rather annoying and I hope it isn't a sign the drive is failing, I've only had it a couple of months and I haven't used it heavily.

• Answered by Paul R from Bozeman
• Jan 8, 2012
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Sure! You can plug pretty much everything into the USB ports at the back.

• Answered by Yotam T from Rehovot
• Sep 23, 2010
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