This tip comes to us from tuaw the unofficial apple weblog, and while its meant for macbooks that have slotloading dvd drives or external. Handy for using on the road with a macbook air or retina macbook pro. Some one recommended a laserlens cleaner, but i was skeptical. You can do the same with the standard macbook pros, except you can put something even more useful in its place. Plug it into your computers usb port to play and burn discs or to load new software onto the hard drive. If you think youll need an external drive mostly for bluray discs. Apple claims that its usb superdrive has everything you need in an optical drive. But some others also suggested the lens might require cleaning. And since it can support a doublelayer disc, it can also support a dvd, which means it can support a cd. The storebought ones were fine theyre manufactured differently. The inch notebook had not been updated since june 2012, but it remained available for. Use this clever way to clean a macs superdrive engadget. Phillip takahashi and 4 other contributors comments. This laptop still features true tone display technology that automatically adjusts white balance to match the color temperature of the surround light, and the apples t2 coprocessor chip.
Probably people living in the suburbs are better off regarding the required cleaning frequency of their optical drives. The apple usb superdrive has a slightly longer 340mm cable compared to the cable on the macbook air superdrive 250mm. Five reasons to still love the inch macbook pro classic. If your macbook is still under warranty or you have applecare for it, put it in apples hands. Sometimes you may need to reinstall os x on a computer, but the drive is broken, resulting in an obvious problem with reading the installation dvd. I have read in many forums that this is a dead condition for dvd drive, and should be replaced. Jan 08, 2009 i gave up on my early2008 macbook pro optical drive early. Cd dvd drive work by focusing laser light from the drive lens, to the disk and then reads data by the light reflected from the disk. This video will show you how easy it is to replace the optical drive on your macbook. Apple no longer sells a mac with a cd drive macrumors. How to clean a macbooks dvd drive computer cleaner resolved. The optical drives in your computer require constant cleaning than any other part of your computer.
If you have the guts to physically open the optical drive, you could try cleaning the laser if you can get to it with 90% isopropyl alcohol. Macbook pro optical drive removal bootcamp digital spy. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a macbook pros superdrive sun, 2008. Jan 19, 2011 dont let having a broken optical drive force you into buying a whole new macbook. Then remove the three screws securing the superdrive in. The optical drive uses pata instead of sata and is older transfer speed.
This drive works just like any other optical drive but keep in mind this external usb dvd burner uses 2. Macbook pro unibody late 2011 optical drive replacement. Now, i know that you have to purchase a caddy to place the ssd drive in and all that jazz. I had tried the dvd cleaner thing with the brushes. How do you clean a slotloading dvd drive on a macbook. Macbook pro unibody model a1278 early 2011 late 2011 mid 2012 sata superdrive cable. I havent found anything on apples website, and the opinions. Hi guys, this is a brilliant procedure to clean the optical head of the dvd superdrive on a mac mini late 2009 edition or other macs using the slot loading dvd superdrive. How to clean a dvd superdrive using a cre apple community. The tricks here are similar to how youd access an optical drive on a windows ultrabook or. If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your movies and music to itunes, or just access the content on your discs.
Apples external superdrive can work on older model macs. May 31, 2012 the optical drive case is machined to be sealed shut, opening the machine to try to get the disk out that way wont work. Jun 06, 2017 play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers the audio hardware in some macbook pro, mac pro, and imac computers supports 176. The tricks here are similar to how youd access an optical drive on a windows ultrabook or similar pc that doesnt include an optical drive of its own. Expand the 2012 macbook pros with an owc data doubler. Tweet share post just before the latest macbook pro s aapl updates were released, rumors swirled that the new models would adopt solidstate drives ssd in addition to hard disk drives hdd and drop internal optical dvd drives across the line. But you can still use cds, dvds, blurays, and other optical discs on your mac. Five reasons to still love the inch macbook pro classic cnet. With simplicity, this external drive has stateoftheart technology. Rather than buy a new one i prefer to save on weight. Apple macbook pro, retina display, 8gb ram, with and. Apple computers without a builtin optical drive can connect an external apple usb superdrive or macbook air superdrive to read optical media such as cds and dvds. Slide the superdrive out and disconnect the sata wire connecting the superdrive to the logic board.
So every macbook have got a superdrive, which goes wrong because of a key. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a macbook pros superdrive. But in 2011, a friends kid wanted to watch a dvd on my. Macbook dvd drive fix repair cddvd drive wont read discs. How to use cds, dvds, and blurays on a mac without an.
Oct 28, 20 the optical drive debate has taken up many an afternoon at the cnet labs, but the clear trend, at least for laptops with screens under 15 inches, is to drop it, especially now that so much of your. More likely, the drives lens is dirty or the drive is simply broken or nearly so. The apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. So my optical drive failed in my late 2011 mbp so i whipped it out and replaced it with an ssd clean installed osx sierra trying to reinstall windows 10 in bootcamp but i get a message saying no optical drive connected, so i borrow an external dvd drive but it wont start the installation im using the same dvd disk as i had previously used in the internal drive ive also tried using s. Shaking a cdmini disk out may work, if its a full sized cddvd then the mechanical was engaged and trapped it inside.
How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a. One fix for nonfunctioning superdrive mac os x hints. I placed the optical drive in an external slim usb enclosure so i could continue to use it, and i also have an external bluray drive for any dvds or cds that i might need. In my ancient powerbook, it was failing very hard reading dvds and sometimes they would get stuck. Jun 07, 2017 for computers that did not ship with an optical drive and do not have the apple usb superdrive, you can use cd or dvd sharing to access a cd or dvd in another computers optical drive. The airinacan worked on my 2006 macbook pro just fine. You can connect this superdrive with your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac, or mac mini with a single usb type a cable, which is built into this superdrive. When a slotin dvd drive stops recognizing inserted dvd or cd media, the first thing to do is to try cleaning the laser lens with a lenscleaning.
However, in every tutorial i have looked up, they are either replacing the hdd with an ssd or they are replacing the optical with an ssd after they have already replaced the hdd with a ssd so that the macbook will now have two ssds, one in the optical drive and one replacing the hdd. A lot of times a persons builtin optical drive fails, and they see the new external at the apple store. Apple has discontinued its nonretina legacy macbook pro, the last mac it sold with a builtin cddvd drive. Be sure to pull on the connector, not the cable itself. Dont let having a broken optical drive force you into buying a whole new macbook. This slim dell usb dvd rw drive fits into a tote bag, and it draws power directly from the computers usb port for hasslefree operation. However, if you do not feel comfortable or have the time to perform the. Get help with the slotloading superdrive on your mac.
The optical drive weighs 175g about 4% of the total the battery weighs 400g. Replacing optical drive with ssd in mid 2012 macbook pro. Diy how to fix an apple slot loading cd dvd drive youtube. Play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers apple. Apple provides official support for individuals installing optical drive s in the mac pro, as well. Pull the optical drive cable away from the optical drive. See the compatibility list for mac computers and the apple usb superdrive or the macbook air superdrive. I gave up on my early2008 macbook pro optical drive early. Cddvd drive work by focusing laser light from the drive lens, to the disk and then reads data by the light reflected from the disk. For anyone who has stripped a screw in step 8 this note might make your day. If that fails, open the mbp and open the optical drive and take out the offending cd or let apple do it. The case itself may be riveted together preventing opening it i just dont remember if this is the case or not. Optical disc drive specifications contain a variety of symbols, letters and numbers. Cleaning the laser lens with 90% isopropyl alcohol would be the first thing.
Macbook, macbook air, and macbook pro models with usbc ports require a usbc to usb adapter sold separately to use apple. I cant remember the last time there was anything i needed to read or load from a cd. Id need to know where i could find the connector between the optical drive and the logicboard. Whether you use your laptops optical drive or not, its important to keep it clean so its there for you when you need it.
I pushed it into the slot and ran it through for a few seconds just once and, voila a. Apr 01, 2011 is a great resource for a detailed photo walkthrough of the steps to remove the optical drive from your mac. All of these macbook pro unibody models can hold a 9. At the time, the lack of an optical drive was a unique feature for the companys new ultralight notebook, and the macbook and macbook pro units of its day still unquestionably arrived with. So, lately ive been having problems with my dvd player on my macbook. Dec 15, 2014 apples macbook air, along with many other macs, no longer includes an optical drive. Heres an easy way to clean slotloading cd and dvd drives like the.
Its obvious apple is moving away from the optical drive as a media source. Once at it, i couldnt resist to open and clean the dvdrw drive. Play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers. My macbooks internal cddvd drive reads dvds just fine. How to clean slim slotin dvd laser from dust youtube. Replacing optical drive with ssd in mid 2012 macbook pro hey. As the title suggests, i am looking to replace my optical drive with an ssd drive. Finally i bought this allsop ultra prolens cleaner, a cd with tiny carbon fiber brushes on the business side of the disc. Apples macbook air, along with many other macs, no longer includes an optical drive. The datadoubler converts the optical drive cable to fit perfectly to the bracket, since it will not mate with an ssd without it.
Replacing the primary optical drive or installing a second optical drive in the mac pro models is a simple procedure, but installation instructions still are useful nevertheless. When you see a disc type thats labeled as bluray, youll know that the drive can support a doublelayer dvd, since it supports a bluray disc. Optical bay hard drive or ssd mounting solution for imac. Oct 27, 2016 apple has discontinued its nonretina legacy macbook pro, the last mac it sold with a builtin cddvd drive. Clean your laptops slotloading dvd drive with a credit card. If these fail, turn your mbp in an orientation where gravity is your ally and shake it with a vacuum cleaner engaged. I replaced the optical drive in my macbook pro with a ssd and put the optical drive in a portable usb enclosure from other world computing. I myself have never done this and i dont know if it can be done from recollection.
The optical drive debate has taken up many an afternoon at the cnet labs, but the clear trend, at least for laptops with screens under 15 inches, is. How to clean the lens of a slotloading optical drive a macbook. After watching these videos, it should be clear that installing an optical drive in all mac pro models is straightforward. The inch notebook had not been updated since june 2012, but. I would recommend taking the back cover off the macbook exposing the ram, hdd, and optical drive. I put my hdd in a caddie to put it instead of the optical drive but my macbook keep disconnecting it. Feb 11, 2014 i rarely used the superdrive in my 2009 macbook pro. As i dove for the couch cushions in search of spare change to add to my computer upgrade fund, i considered that i. How to clean a macbooks dvd drive computer cleaner. The photo diodes present in the drive, detects and decodes the information contained in the laser beam. Play high sample rate digital audio on mac computers the audio hardware in some macbook pro, mac pro, and imac computers supports 176.
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