Don't Replace an Internal SuperDrive. Here's Why

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Replace an Internal SuperDrive? Don’t. Here’s Why

4 March 2013 1,908 views 5 Comments

Your next Mac won't have an internal SuperDrive, so you should go with an external USB optical drive — likely cheaper and absolutely less hassle…

When your relatives have Mac problems, who do they call? The optical drive in my sister’s 2008 iMac died some time ago and she wanted to replace it. Rather, I convinced her that as her next iMac won’t have an internal SuperDrive, she should go with an external USB optical drive.

The same holds true for older MacBooks with a dead internal SuperDrive — most current models don’t include an internal optical drive and the future doesn’t look bright for shiny plastic disks encoded with bits and bytes.

Ultimately, why replace the internal SuperDrive when it’s highly unlikely your next Mac will ship with one? Get an external SuperDrive now to have for the long haul.

Good Choices

I got her the Patuoxun USB External Slot in DVD RW Drive Burner Superdrive For Apple MacBook Pro Air ($41.99, Amazon), which worked instantly not only with her 2008 iMac, but also my family’s two iMacs. The vendor, Patuoxun, claims it works with all Mac OS versions.

If you’d prefer another vendor, Other World Computing offers a nice range of external DVD drives, starting at $49. Naturally, both Amazon and OWC are excellent sources for a super fast and increasingly affordable SSD drive, which will fit nicely in that old optical drive bay.

That said, not replacing the internal SuperDrive could reduce resale value, but most buyers likely won’t care. Further, though an external optical drive won’t be as elegant, the Patuoxun sis’ got is attractive if not stylish…

What’s your take?

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5 Comments »

Kiwiiano said:

Dumping the internal drive also raises the possibility of using the DVD space for a SSD, or better still, move your internal HD into the space and park the SSD on the HD bus where apparently data transfer speeds are even faster.
With the OSX, Library and Apps on the SSD, your MacBoot will be so fast you’ll get blistered fingers.

# 4 March 2013 at 4:09 am

JustSomeHuman said:

That’s exactly what I did. I removed the internal super drive from my 17″ MacBook Pro and replaced it with a 480 Gig SSD with a Drive Doubler Bracket from OWC. I keep the system and applications on the SSD. My home directory sits on the 500 gig spinning disk. I also keep large files and source code on the SSD to speed up the access. Boot up is “almost” instantaneous. The only downside is that the SATA bus in my MBP is only 3 GB rather than 6.

# 4 March 2013 at 11:25 pm

Cool iPad Tricks: Background Listen a Video Podcast, YouTube, etc. said:

[...] Are Not Connected to the Internet’ — Mac Tips: Change Screen Cap Format from PNG to JPG — Replace an Internal SuperDrive? Don’t. Here’s Why — Mac Tips: Preview Images, Videos in Fullscreen — Retina MacBook Pro Benchmarks: Bang for the [...]

# 11 March 2013 at 2:27 am

Mac Tips: 'You Are Not Connected to the Internet' said:

[...] posts: — Mac Tips: Change Screen Cap Format to JPG — Replace an Internal SuperDrive? Don’t. Here’s Why — Mac Tips: Preview Image, Video, Document, etc. Files Fullscreen — 2013 Retina MacBook Pro [...]

# 11 March 2013 at 4:38 pm

What's New in OS X 10.8.3 said:

[...] Related posts: — Mac Mods: Power Mac G5 Skateboard — Mac Tips: ‘You Are Not Connected to the Internet’ — Mac Tips: Change Screen Cap Format to JPG — Mac Security: Java for OS X, Flash, Evernote Updates [u] — Replace an Internal SuperDrive? Don’t. Here’s Why [...]

# 15 March 2013 at 1:17 am