Learning has never been so easy!

The last Apple Mac to ship with an optical CD or DVD drive was a 13in MacBook Pro, originally released in June 2012, but on sale until October 2016, when Apple discontinued that model, more.

Mac computers can provide a much better using experience, and have a longer endurance. If you need to work with media files pretty often, you especially need a Mac to improve your efficiency. However, Mac computers are not perfect. With a Mac computer, you may sometimes find yourself in a need of Apple SuperDrive, as Mac computers no longer. If everything is OK, Mac OS X will ask for a password. Then launch Kext Utility to clear caches and repair permissions, and restart the Mac. If everything went well - this was the case on my MacBook Pro - the external drive should work right away. crarko adds: I haven't tested this one. This is where I throw out the big caution flag.

Compared to many How-To articles, this one is pretty simple, but it saved me from buying another USB DVD drive just for one little task.

The problem: I have both Macs and Windows PCs, and needed to install Microsoft Office from DVD media on an ultrabook laptop that had no internal optical drive.

1 Steps total

Step 1: Download BootCamp from the Apple Support Site

The MacBook Air SuperDrive has unique firmware which prevents it from being properly recognized as a plug and play optical USB drive by Windows. Fortunately, Apple provides the drivers for running Windows on a Mac, as part of its BootCamp software.

If you download the latest release of BootCamp from Apple's support site, you will have a zip file wherein the path bootcampdriversApple contains the file 'AppleODDInstaller64.exe'.

Simply execute this file to install the Apple Optical Disk Driver for 64 bit Windows, and presto! You can then use the MacBook Air SuperDrive with your Windows PC.

15 Comments

Tabasco
FelloWizard Aug 14, 2015 at 03:03pm
Finally, something I can use. Thanks this is helpful on many levels.
Cayenne
JeremyGove Aug 14, 2015 at 05:50pm
Long live BootCamp! Great post! Thanks for putting this up.
Cayenne
InevitableCheese Aug 14, 2015 at 05:53pm
Makes you wonder why in the world they wouldn't just make it available.
Mace
Curtis3363 Aug 14, 2015 at 06:16pm
Awesome, I just got this drive for a friend and it won't work on his older Mac, so I'll give him mine and use his.
Serrano
NHCSAdmin Aug 14, 2015 at 06:20pm
Awesome! Been to busy to figure out how to use it on another computer! Thanks for the write up!
Thai Pepper
Blair Groves Aug 14, 2015 at 06:23pm
Thank you for your comments everyone! I'm glad this was helpful to you!
Chipotle
ColdDeck Aug 14, 2015 at 08:19pm
That's a useful bit of info right there. Thanks for posting!
Datil
lhatsynot Aug 14, 2015 at 09:10pm
Very nice and I didn't know it wouldn't work. My wife has a Mac with one of these drives and I have an Ultrabook so this will come in handy.
Chipotle
James1765 Aug 14, 2015 at 10:55pm
I should be shocked that Apple would break a long standing standard like this without any apparent advantage, but this is Apple we're talking about.
Thai Pepper
Blair Groves Aug 14, 2015 at 11:23pm
For every one item that Apple has put up a dead end, they've both innovated and perfected dozens of things that have influences our world in general. They've succeeded in creating a very nice ecosystem for people who are prepared to pay the price of admission, and there is much more to come, as long as Apple remains attentive.
Cayenne
Bryan9095 Aug 15, 2015 at 12:05am
This is a much easier method. Connect the SuperDrive and a USB flash drive to a Mac. Copy the contents of the Office DVD to the flash drive. Then plug the flash drive into the ultrabook. Run the setup. The benefit of this method is not having to do anything special to get the SuperDrive to work with the ultrabook and the installation of Office will be faster.
Thai Pepper
Steve_Belmont Aug 15, 2015 at 02:58am
Good Thinking! great job, and you get to save a few
Mace
bbigford Aug 15, 2015 at 04:45am
Nice write up on repurposing. I'm guessing nobody would actually buy an Apple optical drive for Windows intentionally. At least it isn't a total loss if you're stuck with it and don't want to pay $30 for a new external.
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Datil
AshleyLewisMS Aug 16, 2015 at 02:30pm
Thanks for the guide. I gotta say, I've used a generic Samsung external DVD drive on an iMAC before and it works a treat.
Datil
Rusty Platter Aug 17, 2015 at 10:19am
For the reverse situation, I've used a Dell USB DVD drive without issues on a Mac.

Check compatibility

The Apple USB SuperDrive is compatible with Mac models from 2008 and later that don't have a built-in optical drive.

Connect and use your SuperDrive

To use your SuperDrive, connect it to a USB-A port on your Mac^*, then insert a disc.Make sure that the aluminum enclosure of the SuperDrive is facing up.

To connect your SuperDrive to a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) or USB-C port on your Mac, you can use one of these adapters:

Eject a disc

To eject a disc, click Finder in the Dock, then choose File > Eject. Or, if your keyboard has an eject key, press and hold .

Superdrive For Mac Mini

Learn more

Superdrive For Macbook Pro 2019

* If your SuperDrive doesn't respond when connected to an external display or USB hub, connect your SuperDrive to a USB port directly on your Mac.

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