Obscure Mac DVD drive question (older drive into newer mac?)
Discussion
The answer to this will probably be to try it and report back...
But has anyone ever put an older Mac's DVD drive (in this instance a ComboDrive) into a newer Mac (one with a SuperDrive)?
The drive on my newer Mac is playing up and I don't need DVD write capability, just read. I also have a couple of older Macs kicking around whose DVD drives work.
Am thinking swapping the drives over might be a neat solution - hate buying new kit when I have old stuff sat unused
(Also considered an external bluray drive...but don't really need bluray, nor the added expense).
But has anyone ever put an older Mac's DVD drive (in this instance a ComboDrive) into a newer Mac (one with a SuperDrive)?
The drive on my newer Mac is playing up and I don't need DVD write capability, just read. I also have a couple of older Macs kicking around whose DVD drives work.
Am thinking swapping the drives over might be a neat solution - hate buying new kit when I have old stuff sat unused
(Also considered an external bluray drive...but don't really need bluray, nor the added expense).
steveatesh said:
No idea if this is appropriate but I just bought a Samsung external DVD read/write drive for my Mac when I got it 5 years ago. About £20 or something like that.
HTH if not I’ll gladly be educated by you
I think that'll be my backup option...probably the right thing to do cost/time-wise regardless. Just don't like sending stuff to landfill HTH if not I’ll gladly be educated by you
The answer would, of course, be 'depends'.
Some external drives need a specific firmware in the Mac to use - so a Superdrive for a Macbook doesn't always work on an iMac - and vice versa.
But most internal drives on PowerMacs and MacPros are just standard drives and will happily swap between models.
BTW, you can share a drive from another Mac with your current Mac - without taking anything apart.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203973
Some external drives need a specific firmware in the Mac to use - so a Superdrive for a Macbook doesn't always work on an iMac - and vice versa.
But most internal drives on PowerMacs and MacPros are just standard drives and will happily swap between models.
BTW, you can share a drive from another Mac with your current Mac - without taking anything apart.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203973
Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 28th December 11:53
mmm-five said:
The answer would, of course, be 'depends'.
Some external drives need a specific firmware in the Mac to use - so a Superdrive for a Macbook doesn't always work on an iMac - and vice versa.
But most internal drives on PowerMacs and MacPros are just standard drives and will happily swap between models.
BTW, you can share a drive from another Mac with your current Mac - without taking anything apart.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203973
I've not tried it (yet) but I'm not sure drive sharing works with encrypted/copy protected DVDs (movies)...Some external drives need a specific firmware in the Mac to use - so a Superdrive for a Macbook doesn't always work on an iMac - and vice versa.
But most internal drives on PowerMacs and MacPros are just standard drives and will happily swap between models.
BTW, you can share a drive from another Mac with your current Mac - without taking anything apart.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203973
Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 28th December 11:53
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