“Let’s face it: Apple is never going to support Blu-ray playback on the Mac, which is bad for those of us who are Blu-ray fans,” Dennis Sellers reports for Apple Daily Report.
“There are various workarounds, but the simplest may be the combo of the Mac Blu-ray Player from Macgo and a MCE Super-BluDrive,” Sellers reports. “Well, at least it’s simple if you have a good Internet connection.”
Sellers reports, “With the MCE/Macgo hardware/combo, we can not only burn to Blu-ray discs on a Mac, but can also play Blu-ray movies.”
Much more in the full article here.
I can’t wait until all CD/DVD/Bluray go the way of the 8-tracks.
So you can’t wait to be stuck exclusively with inferior formats without any higher-quality alternative?
My format of choice is a download onto an external hard drive. As far as quality, it’s fantastic. I don’t have all the features you can get on a Bluray disk, but I don’t want to pay extra for them anyway. They’re not worth the cost to me. I’m sure Sony will try and extend the life of Bluray as long as they can. I understand and sympathize with them. They spent a lot of money developing Bluray, maybe in part because they did not see where video would be consumed in the future., That does not change the reality that eventually Bluray will follow the 45, the LP, and the CD into the dustbin of history.
Whatever your “format of choice” is, it’s either illicit Blu-ray ISO rips, or it’s inferior to Blu-ray. Which is it?
What if TRS is torrenting original 6k theatrical release files?
Yeah, mmhhmmm… Because theatrical release files are all over the interwebs.
Call Data Crystals
We call them Data Crystals
How do you know what quality my content is?
We know what your “Quality” is because there are limits on how much data you can download in the 90 minutes it takes to watch a movie… and that data is MUCH LESS than the data on a 50Gb Blu-Ray disc. Even if you COULD download 50 Gb in 90 minutes, ALL of the video content you download are compressed to much small file sizes.
It’s perfectly fine with me that you like the quality of downloads… I wouldn’t try to convince you otherwise… but for some people, like me, I can see(and hear) the difference between streaming, and Blu-Ray. I like the latter.
You are assuming I’m streaming.
No, we aren’t assuming you’re streaming. We simply know the market, and if you’re not watching Blu-ray, you’re watching something inferior to it in terms of picture quality. Even if you’re watching Vudu, it’s still inferior. Good, but still inferior. It’s as simple as that.
Spoken like a true apple juice drinking fan-boy. The fact of the matter is, Apple was premature in removing the optical drive from their Macs. There are still many $billions in sales of DVD’s, CD’s, and software. They are also cheap, and great for making copies of things for others.
I just read a review about which laptop to get for college. The reviewer could not recommend an Apple laptop because of the lack of an optical drive. They are still necessary!
Exactly.
Apple was the one complaining about all the wires coming out of a PC, so they created the all in one iMac.
Now they reverse course and make people go back to all the wires coming out of the iMac..
Optical drives are still needed, HD downloads are NOT the same as BD HD.
Yes we are *headed* in the direction of download only delivery of everything, but we are not there yet, and Optical media is still needed.
Plug one in. When you don’t need it, you won’t have to carry the extra weight.
Do you think that’s convenient if you are away at college, or a business person on the go?
Well, everybody is different. that’s for sure. I travel a lot for business. When I’m on the go, I carry my iPad and it does everything I need. When I’m in a hotel, I use my MacBook Pro. I’ve never needed Blueray when I’m traveling.
An OWC external Blueray disc drive weights about 10 ounces. Ifwere away at college, you’re right. I wouldn’t carry an external drive with me to class because of the bulk. But I don’t know why I’d need it in class. If I needed a Blueray drive, I think it would be when I was in my dorm or appartment and, for me, plugging it in would work just fine. But that’s just for me.
If that wouldn’t work for you, buy a laptop by a different manufacturer. That’s what consumer choice is about. Different manufacturers cater to different market segments.
I wouldn’t compromise with an inferior Windows machine just to gain access to an optical drive. I’d just develop a new workflow before I’d ever switch platforms. Optical discs are the past but MCE’s Blueray drive seems like a perfectly acceptable compromise…The real problem with optical drives is it takes too damn long to burn backup discs…
I agree with your point but I am offended by your rude, adolescent fan boy insult. Why do you feel the need to be impolite?
Actually, after dealing with TOO MANY apple juice drinking fan boys, who have made obnoxious statements regarding my opinion, I do feel the need to be impolite.
‘Zbernie’- you’re a special kind of idiot, one that trolls Apple FAN sites and complains that we all love Apple. How stupid can you be??
See how easy it is to insult strangers?
Now f*** off.
And yet the best Windows computer is a Mac. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036199/the-most-reliable-windows-laptop-is-a-mac-says-soluto.html
Buy a plug-in external. Use flash drives. You do NOT need an internal optical drive, the space taken up is far better served with a second HDD, or an SSD.
Apple were the first to ditch floppy drives, and people like you whined and snivelled, and threw girly hissy-fits, whereas everyone else with a clue though, ‘at last, good riddance, lets put something more useful in the space’.
When I bought my Mac Mini, it was one of the last with an optical built it. I had the shop take it out, and install a 750Gb HDD, giving me 1.1Tb, and bought a cheap optical purely for ripping CD’s. everything else goes on 16 or 32Gb flash drives.
Simple.
I am sure apple realizes there is still a market for disc but they also known digital is the future and the present. I haven’t used a disc on a laptop in years. Everything I do is digital. The quality is great and I could care less about disc content. Apples decision to remove the optical drive has allowed them to thin their computers more and more thus achieving their design vision. And that’s the difference. Apple is not concerned with standing still to appease everyone. Their vision of what they want their design to entail trumps catering to everyone. Apple willingly and certainly knowingly sacrifices specific function for form. Lets not forget apple is a much a design company as it is an electronics company. Always on the cutting edge ie thunderbolt, FireWire, wifi etc. with the highest quality of material and design possible at the time usually. Their manufacturing processes often require new machinery to be built. They make no sacrifice in design (though iknow thats subjective) or material quality. I personally am more than happy to give up an unused function for a design I prefer.
Well I’d rather function over form but that’s just me. I don’t really have an issue with Apple removing the optical drive. But they could have retained that space for users to install a second HDD or SSD. Instead Apple took that space away and also put in a proprietary SSD with no room or option for installing a second one. In Apple’s quest for “thin and light” they haven’t thought some things through. Same goes for the upcoming Mac Pro. But that’s whole other discussion.
Yeah. That’s why Tower Records is prospering…
Oh wait…
They didn’t remove the optical drive from all of the Macs.
Most people simply weren’t using them. When I pulled the optical drive from my MacBook Pro to make room for a 2nd hard drive, I bought a portable DVD/Blu-Ray burner and figured I would carry that in my backpack when I traveled, but leave it on my desk when I was just moving around the house or going to a coffee shop.
Well, I’ve gone on numerous trips and have totally forgotten the portable burner. And didn’t ever realize it because there was no use for it. I no longer even bother taking it with me on trips, and it’s in the closet, not on my desk.
So, I don’t think I’m being a fanboy when I say I have no use for it, because I know I don’t.
So Apple is adding a Blu-Ray drive to their new Macs? It’s official: Apple sold out.
Are you on something? Because that’s the only way you can see that in their future.
Where did you get that?!?!? The article starts, “Let’s face it: Apple is never going to support Blu-ray playback on the Mac…”
For anybody interested in this combo, the article is incorrect: It states that you can burn Blu-rays with this, when in fact it’s a Blu-ray reader and CD/DVD burner. Still a good value I think, but no Blu-ray burning.
What are Blu-rays good for? I don’t like discs at all. Better iTunes downloads even they are not full HD.
If you have to ask that better to stay with something you’re already happy with. Some people prefer the higher bit rates and quality while others are good with less. Heck there are people who still don’t see the differences between DVD & Blu-Ray! In some ways I envy them. Professionals too need discs for backup and transporting media plus of course authoring. I just made a Blu-Ray of our indie film project for example and it looks amazing.
Not available in the UK apparently.
Looks like they ship worldwide…
These are good for backing-up photos etc. to Blue-ray. And there is software to play movies as well. Works great on iMac but MBP doesn’t have enough juice to power via USB.
http://www.digistor.com/Optical-Drives/External-Drives
I installed an inexpensive $95 SATA Blu-Ray burner kit from OWC in my 2007 Mac Pro and it works like a champ. I have an external one too but the internal one works better. Who knew this old IDE disc burner port Mac Pro also had two spare SATA ports on the mother board to tap with the right cable from OWC? I’m VERY happy. The Blu-Rays look magnificent when encoded in H.264. I discovered MPEG 2 HD encodes can have glitchy encode artifacts from Apple’s Compressor for some reason while MP4 shines.
Or, to use with a Mini in an HTPC….
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/MSMXBW3.0TB7/
What’s even more pathetic than Apple’s inability to come to a reasonable agreement with Sony to support at least SOME Blu-Ray functionality is that Apple’s stale Quicktime player is a terrible interface with poor file support compared to VLC and others. As for simple video editing, Apple downright abandoned Quicktime Pro and iMovie, both of which could have evolved into superb offerings. Consumers expect better than the lackluster and inconsistent efforts Apple has made in the consumer video space.
… and yes, we strongly prefer physical optical discs for true high-definition video playback.
This reads like an ad. Because it probably is.
Or save money and buy a drive for half the price that works just as well:
Blu-Ray USB External Player DVDRW
Please clue me in on how a drive that doesn’t come with any Mac Blu-ray Player software works just as well?
I can’t say I’ve have much interest in Bluray in general – but if i ever were to get one, I’d want it to plug directly into my HDTV, since I would just be watching movies on it more than anything else. Using Bluray on my computer instead of directly on the TV just sounds like extra unneeded complexity.
You all are forgetting that it was Steve in one of his many moments of absolute arrogance who famously declared “nobody needs a DVD (of any flavor) anymore” – so it was declared and so it was – at least for Macs. I happen to line up with those in this string who believe that it is we the consumer who should have the choice and get to decided what we need or what we want. Steve also declared my Mac Pro a “truck” and sent Apple into the mobile device business at the expense of an untapped market for really great, real computers. And we wonder why the company’s stock tanked. The market for phones and pads is satisfied by dozens of cheap options from multiple makers leaving Apple trying to figure which way to turn. So, under Tim, they just sit and do pretty much nothing.
“Do pretty much nothing” except collect the lion’s share of profits in the marketplace… 🙂
I prefer blueray for quality when I purchase a movie to keep. But I find myself watching Apple TV iTunes rentals because it is just simpler. I’ve even bought more iTunes movies than I have bluerays and one of those bluerays was in sale.
Avatar was the last blueray I bought on purpose. I might be a candidate for blueray Netflix discs if they cost the same as DVDs. But I barely watch streaming NetFlix except when I am on vacation.
Too much content on my cable DVR I guess.
I’m really quite happy with my Cable TV except for the inability to watch what is on my DVR when I am away from home and the Brighthouse apps inability to delete what saved programs remotely.
It can’t burn BR, useless for me. And yes, high quality download is just fine, but BR is much better audio and video. If you’re an archiver/collector of movies I’m afraid download quality just isn’t there yet, and I wonder if it ever will be because it looks like many consumers are saying, good-enough.