Reviews for Apple USB SuperDrive

This is a good idea when it comes to improving the design of the MacBooks, but for the hassle and the cost, you'd think it could be blu-ray capable. Seriously. The retina display has a resolution of 2880 x 1800. I think it's time for 1080p viewability.

Excepting those who legitimately had a defective superdrive, many of the reviews here are very inaccurate, misinformed, and misleading to prospective customers. In my research as someone who was changing from a PC to the newest iMac, I found many of these reviews incredibly frustrating. The best review I read that had great advice and common sense was this one:

(QUOTE) - The drive works perfectly as described.
My response to others are as follows:

1) It is a DVD drive, not a Blue Ray drive. No DVD players can play Blue Ray, though Blue Ray can play both. The reason that Apple does not have a Blue Ray option is due to rights ownership. Don't blame Apple, blame Sony.

2) Ejecting a CD/DVD on a MAC is different than on a Windows box. Try clicking the eject button on your top bar in OSX, if it is not there, right click on the drive's icon on your desktop and then click on "Eject". Don't blame Apple for your lack of understanding on how to use their products.
(UNQUOTE)

Be informed before giving a review that will mislead others. I plugged this in, ripped my cds like crazy (quiet AND fast!) and it's been fantastic. I have it sitting FLAT on the 'foot' of my iMac where it coordinates perfectly. I use the eject button on the top right of my Apple wireless keyboard, though you can also do it on screen.

I have absolutely no complaints about this product, but I definitely do have complaints about some of the reviews. Accuracy is important when doing a review. Thank=you.

This device has several limitations, such as when i need to burn a long length of movie, the video couldn't completely capture and display in the DVD player. I''d used it for less than 50 times, and now it become faulty. Its the most incredible part.

with all the product enhancements in the computers and the need for speed.The lack of the usb 3.0 interface. Plus the overdue addition of read/write of BlueRay Discs

This product works fine except that it is NOT region free.
It will play any DVD and switch to different country codes if needed but only
up to a total of 5 times. Then it will get stuck in the last region code and cannot be reset to play
any other region.
Useless when traveling to other countries since I had to buy (and haul) two of them.
What is the point of a laptop if you cannot travel with it unless you haul and pay for a bunch of extra stuff?
Apple simply said "sorry and nothing can be changed".

More folks need to complain about this BS please !!

The drive itself works fine, IF you have the correct computer. I purchased it for use with my Mac mini--which it claims to support. However, it only supports the NEWEST mac mini, the one with no internal optical drive. I spent 30 minutes online with an Apple support tech who tried hard to get my older Mac mini (which reads DVDs but can't write them) to work with the drive, which it recognized but would not use. Apparently no one told support about the new superdrive firmware that disables it when it detects ANY optical drive in a Mac mini.
So if you're buying a NEW Mac mini, go ahead with this device. But DO NOT BELIEVE THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION THAT SAYS IT WORKS WITH "THE MAC MINI"--it only works with SOME (i.e. new, optical-diskless) Mac minis.
I've sometimes been upset at Apple design decisions (remember the Apple ///? The Macintosh Portable?) but this is the first time I've been burned by DECEPTIVE product descriptions.

I have a MacBook Pro with Retina Display, which has no built-in optical drive, and I was in need of one. Initially, when I saw the price of the Apple USB SuperDrive, I laughed and looked elsewhere for a Mac-compatible external USB DVD Burner. I found one on Amazon by a very reputable manufacturer at less than half the price. It had good overall reviews, so I didn't hesitate to order it. I got it, and my first impressions were, "wow, this thing feels cheap." It was made of glossy, cheap-feeling plastic, which I had no problem with since I would only have to use it occasionally.

However, the performance of the unit was awful. It would disconnect at times, burn jobs would fail, and when it did work, it was painfully slow even for an optical drive. I had to return it because it was practicably unusable. I then bit the bullet and ordered an Apple USB SuperDrive, and I'm glad I did.

My first impressions were, "this feels sturdy," and "wow, that's pretty." It matches the MacBook Pro perfectly, with the same finish and build quality. Performance was excellent compared to the first drive I tried, and it "just works."

Overall, I'm very happy with it. Yes, the Apple drive is a little overpriced, but you definitely get what you pay for in this instance, at least in my experience. I would recommend just going with the Apple USB SuperDrive if you don't want to deal with the hassle of the cheaper drives.

I am a new Apple computer user, and I purchased a MacBook Air. I watch a lot of movies on my computer, and to play them, I purchased The USB Superdrive because I am a strong supporter of Apple products. This product did not live up to Apple quality. For movies, this device is extremely difficult to use. If the movie has a scratch on it, the entire computer will freeze and their is no easy way to eject the CD from the drive. Without a external eject button, it is hard to safely remove the disk. For the price, it's not worth the hassle.

Pros: looks nice, aluminum case (on the top), easy to setup and use.

Cons: is only compatible with the Mac Mini, MB Air, MBP w/ Retina, has no eject button on the unit nor the ability to manually eject it so if it malfunctions you can kiss your CD/DVD goodbye, the cord is hardwired into the unit so that you can't replace it (so if the cord breaks so does the SuperDrive), the cord is also incredibly short making it a pain to use with the laptop on your lap or in a confined area, substitute external disc drives cost $10-$40 less.

Overall: There are better alternatives with more functionality for less money. But... if you need to have everything Apple than this is your only choice.

Superdrive don't play CD's on Mac Book Pro Retina. iTunes crashes after playing only the first track. I tested it with many albums. Every time the first track ends, iTunes crashes. I'm very disappointed with my whole purchase: Mack Book Pro Retina + USB Superdrive.