Apple still sells a usbconnected external superdrive as an accessory. It connects to your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac late 2012 and later, mac mini late 2009 and later, or mac pro late 20 with a single usb cable thats built into the superdrive. This is a macbook air superdrive that was hacked so that it may be used on other computers other then the air edit. Run that file from the thumb drive on the pc you want to use your apple macbook air superdrive. Rightclick on the boot camp zip file in the downloads folder, and then, click extract all. Macbook air superdrive with attached usb cable, users guide.
I have successfully hacked my mba superdrive to work with other macs and pcs. Swap macbook air superdrive into macbook apple ios os. Copypaste to a thumb drive the file appleoddinstaller. Nowadays most most information for my mac comes via the internet but occasionally i wil recieve a disc from a friend with their holiday snaps so plug in and insert the disc is all you have to do. Op apple computers zonder een ingebouwde optische schijfeenheid kan een externe apple usb superdrive of macbook air superdrive. Macbook air superdrive jammed and will not eject so shake. Apple claims that the mac air superdrive not sure if thats the actual product name, but anyone, from here on ill just say mas uses more power than a single usb line can provide. For whatever reason the macbook air superdrive is ide internally and the used superdrive can be used for powerpc powerbooks or ibooks, that did not come with a superdrive probably imac g5, too, no mac minis, but probably macbook pro 17 till 2008. However, following the below it is entirely your own risk. Once the drivers are installed properly in windows, the apple superdrive should accept discs, read, write, and eject them as expected, just like it does on the mac.
At tuesdays ipad and mac event, apple refreshed the macbook pro with retina display with intels fourthgeneration haswell core processors and other enhancements. What drive mechanism is inside the macbook air superdrive. Tnkgrl goes on to explain that there is a handshake requirement between the ide bridge in the superdrive that requires replacing the bridge with the above part requiring removal of the daughterboard allowing the drive to work with any usb equipped computer, mac or pc. I use a hp usb optical drive with my ppc macs and i always use it via a powered usb hub because they cannot deliver enough juice to even get the drive recognised, let alone mount a disc.
Of course you could also just get a different external dvdrw cdrw drive too at less cost, as many of the other solutions either work immediately with plugandplay in windows and. But sometimes you need an optical drive on the go, and thats where the apple macbook air superdrive comes in. Can i use the airsuperdrive as an external drive the mac laptops. They say that the usb port on an mba is designed to be able to provide this extra power, and the usb ports on all of their other products are not. Plug the superdrive into an available usb port on the windows pc. Its perfect when you want to watch a dvd movie, install software, create backup discs, and more. Mar 20, 2020 apple s supercomputer imac as well as portable laptop series macbook, macbook pro, and macbook air, imac pro comes with a fast speed processor, enough storage hard drive capacity, and fresh color finish. Macbook air superdrive for all so like me, you have a macbook air superdrive its affordable, its functional, its sexy. Posted june 7, 2008 3 comments on amazon kindle vs. Now ive just put a dvd into it to watch a movie and it got stuck into the superdrive. Jan 21, 2009 im guessing you could pull the innards out of a macbook air superdrive and install it into a regular macbook. Macbook air superdrive hacked for other macs, pcs jun. Macbook keyboard among best ever, glass trackpad less than. It is slim and portable and is powered by usb so there is no bulky power adapter to carry with you.
My sister had a macbook air and while she sold it, she still has the external superdrive that looks like a usbbased cdrom dvdrom drive. The apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. Use an external macbook air superdrive on a macbook pro. Get help with the slotloading superdrive on your mac. Im guessing you could pull the innards out of a macbook air superdrive and install it into a regular macbook. There appears to be some sort of handshake happening between the macbook air and the ide to usb bridge within the mba superdrive.
Swap macbook air superdrive into macbook apple ios os help. Plug in the superdrive directly to the computers usb port. Apple support discussions disc stuck into superdrive and wont does it sound like its trying to eject. Make sure that the aluminum enclosure of the superdrive. This compact, sleek external dvd writer easily slips into your travel bag and takes up little space on your desk or tray table at working space. Its not a pretty hack the daughter board needs to be tossed to make space, but the superdrive now runs on any usb equipped machine. Macbook air superdrive super hack makes it work with any. I have since done extensive research learning that if you do not own an macbook air or have skills beyond the basic computer wizard that i am this device is useless.
The first practical problem is that the superdrive seems to require more power from the usb port than ppc macs provided. Well, thats what it states on the product page, but the question now is. Connect and use your superdrive to use your superdrive, connect it to a usba port on your mac, then insert a disc. However, the usb superdrive is not compatible with macs that came with builtin optical drives. Youll never have to worry about lost cables with the apple usb superdrive. In the process, the company quietly put to bed the last remaining mac computers that include an internal superdrive. First, take a look at pictures of this mod and a video where.
The apple usb superdrive and macbook air superdrive are designed exclusively for use with mac computers that do not have a builtin optical drive. Posted on february 20, 2019 by admin this is a macbook air superdrive that was hacked so that it may be used on other computers other then the air for a guide on how to hack it, i used this url. Dec 06, 2009 this is a macbook air superdrive that was hacked so that it may be used on other computers other then the air edit. This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only. So like me, you have a macbook air superdrive its affordable, its functional, its sexy. From 2001 onwards the superdrive was a cd dvd readerwriter.
How to connect the apple usb superdrive apple support. Despite being a usb device which should work with any mac or even pc, it will only work with the macbook air. Koop een usb superdrive externe cdspeler van apple apple nl. The op doesnt report having successfully put his superdrive to work on ubuntu. So, it does not work with the apple computer that i own. A renewed supplier who is amazonqualified and performance managed, but not apple certified, performs a full diagnostic. Apple ibook, powerbook superdrive macbook superdrive. Macbook air superdrive jammed and will not eject so shake it.
Apple s superdrive was a highdensity floppy disk drive used from 1988 to 1999. Incidently, when they first came out a few years ago, the superdrives worked for a very short time with macbook pros. Ive used the port while online without any problems. Great tool for apple macbook air, macbook pro, and imac desktop. Macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac late 2012 and later, mac mini late 2009 and later mac pro late 20 macbook pro mac pro models with thunderbolt 3 usbc ports require a usbc to usb adapter sold separately to use apple usb superdrive. Or does the superdrive need to be plugged directly into the mba. I assume apple isnt making much profit selling them does. Jun 07, 2017 reconnect the superdrive directly to the display when you no longer need to start the computer from the superdrive. Say goodbye to internal superdrives with the latest. Apple builtinusb superdrive not working issues fixed. With a builtin single usb cable, you can connect this smart usb superdrive to macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac or mac mini without any trouble. The apple usb superdrive adds dvda readwrite capability to the macbook air superdrive repertoire, but remains mechanically the same.
I have an older macbook pro late 2011 which came with a builtin optical drive. Nov, 2018 the apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided. It will work with a usb hub, you can use other usb devices at the same time and have some spare usb ports. Jun 24, 2008 i was trying to make macbook air superdrive on my macbook pro on mac os but it didnt work. Whether youre at the office or on the road, you can play and burn both cds and dvds with the apple usb superdrive. How do i use my super drive on my windows apple community. Dec 26, 2019 note that he apple usb superdrive and macbook air superdrive are designed especially for use with mac computers that do not have a builtin optical drive. Macbook air superdrive can only be used with macbook air. It connects to your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac or mac mini with a single usb typea cable thats built into the superdrive. Theres no separate power adapter, and it works whether your mac is plugged in or running on battery power.
The superdrive in my macbook core duo recently died. Apple support discussions disc stuck into superdrive and wont i have just bought a mba. The macbook air superdrive does not work out of the box on ubuntu 14. Please bear in mind that i have done it making use of a macbook pro mid 2010 running mac osx 10. Unfortunately, it only works with the macbook air due to a proprietary ide to usb bridge, as tnkgrl. Youll have to remember that the macbook airs usb port is considerably higher powered than most, as its designed to power the external superdrive.
The superdrive for the macbook air is simple to use and requires just one usb socket. I have continue reading macbook air superdrive for all. Hacker fixes macbook air superdrive to work with any. Macbook air superdrive modified for use with any machine. Attaching a apple usb superdrive to the mac allows it to do the things that other computers with a dvd drive can do. In that time, over 500,000 orders have left our facility for us and international destinations to help save old devices from the landfill and bring them back to working condition. I replaced the builtin superdrive with a second hard drive. The nonstandard sized or shaped disc will damage the external superdrive mac and apple usb superdrive. Compact and convenient, the apple usb superdrive connects to your imac, macbook pro with retina display, macbook air or mac mini with a single usb cable.
Now you can use usb hub with this superdrive on macbook air. My wife has a macbook air and an external macbookair superdrive, i have connected it to my macbook and nothing. When first introduced in 2008, the external macbook air superdrive only was intended to work with the macbook air models, although apple has offered it subsequently for the optical driveless aluminum mac mini models, tapered edge aluminum imac models, retina display macbook pro models, the cylinder mac pro line, and other macs that do not have internal optical drives. Hmm, it would be an interesting alternative however it appears to work only for the mba, and not any other mac notebook line, sadly. The updated second generation inch macbook pro, released on june 11, 2012 and discontinued on october 27, 2016, is the last macintosh to include a superdrive.
Apparently, i did not understand that this apple macbook air superdrive mc684zma does not play nice with imac computers. Connects via usb, plays and burns both cds and dvds. Will apple s external superdrive work through a powered usb hub. I managed to install windows ans other software through the superdrive. Voor macbook promodellen met thunderbolt 3poorten usb c heb je een usb c naar usb a adapter nodig om apple usb superdrive te kunnen gebruiken. Its a small circuit board that allows an ide device like the optical drive within the mba superdrive to work as a usb device.
Tech macbook air superdrive modified for use with any machine ever wanted to use a macbook air superdrive with another machine. You will need a powered usb hub to use it with any mac other than macbook air. Jan 31, 2012 this article explains more indepth on why its only compatible with certain devices, and how to get around it. Why is the apple usb superdrive only compatible with the. A call in to apple has confirmed that the system requirements listed online are correct, and a macbook. For over 15 years, powerbook medic has been providing parts, repair, and service for a variety of gadgets. Superdrive left, owc bluray options right however, the macbook air superdrive will work with all macs that do not have an internal optical drive, just not earlier macs, and the macbook air also can support just about any usbbased optical drive that has os x drivers. I think this is the case because theres a hack that lets you run the superdrive from any mac or windows machine, it involves replacing a bit of the usb board within the superdrive enclosure but doesnt touch the drive itself. Macbook air superdrive for all thumbnails detail 3 comments. You dont have to worry about lost cables with the apple usb superdrive. If the drive inside the external enclosure is the same, its a great deal.
For some reason, apple has decided to hobble the macbook air superdrive. Note that he apple usb superdrive and macbook air superdrive are designed especially for use with mac computers that do not have a builtin optical drive. The macbook air superdrive is designed to work only with the air artificially perhaps, but thats not the issue, and the airs usb port is designed to provide power in excess of 500ma to the superdrive. Using macbook air superdrive with a windo apple community. It gives you the ability to play and burn both cds and dvds.
Made by apple with a design to complement the macbook air perfectly, the macbook air superdrive connects to your macbook air with a builtin usb cable youll never lose. Photos on the blog show the procedure for the hack. Does apple macbook air superdrive to work on any pc. Thanks to its ai engine, superdrive advises you about the risks of your upcoming md101x a superdrive macbook trip, and about the dangers you actually risked during your trip apple usb superdrive with usb typea connector. Hacker fixes macbook air superdrive to work with any computer. Did you ever wonder what caused the macbook airs external superdrive to only play nice with the air itself. Amazon renewed is your trusted destination for preowned and refurbished products that are inspected and tested to work and look like new. But its entirely plausible that if another usb device asks for 500ma but attempts to draw more, it will succeed anyway. Compatible with the driveless macbook air, as well as macbook pro retina, imac and mac mini.