The MacBook Air SuperDrive
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jan 15th 2008 2:09PM
posted Jan 15th 2008 2:09PM
Apple may think it's over for optical media, but we have a feeling a lot of MacBook Air customers are going to end up spending the $99 on the external SuperDrive. The 1.06-pound USB-powered dual-layer burner is as slickly encased in aluminum as the Air itself, has a built-in cable and features 4X DL read / write speeds, 8x DVD±R, and 24x CD-R. No official word on availability just yet, but we'd guess it'll ship alongside the Air in two weeks. Interestingly, the specs say it requires a MacBook Air -- but we'll be recklessly plugging it into whatever we have handy soon enough, stay tuned.
I'd love to have one of these just to use on my iMac.
So this will turn it into a fully functional notebook with no USB ports?
Unless you get one of those newfangled USB hubs...
People buying this computer won't need an optical drive... and if they do, they'll use it when they need it and use the USB port for other things when they don't need the optical drive. Apart from my Mouse/Keyboard which actually use only one port on my iMac, I only use about one other port regularly and that's my Flash Drive - oh and until I had to return it to Amazon, I had my Logitech MX Revolution Plugged in too but that freed up a USB port on my keyboard anyway... so really, I've only ever needed to use two USB ports at the same time on fairly brief and infrequent intervals.
If you need to use two USB ports then buy a USB Hub if you really can't manage without using two USB ports at the same time... and who honestly does? If you have an iPod then you can charge that at a different time to using your optical drive, yes? If you need an external HD then use that at a different point to the Optical Drive. The only reason you would need an optical drive on this machine is if you're going to rip or burn media - and I think those can wait if, say, charging an iPod is more important, don't you think?
ah and how thick is that newfangled usb hub?
OH NO, i said a dirty word.
I don't see the point in buying this product. Apple are beginning to rip UK consumers off and should be investigated for price fixing and unfair charging by the trading standards and/or the EU.
They expect us to pay £1200 for a MacBook Air, only marginally less than a MacBook Pro, yet they sell it for $1800 in the USA? £1200 does not equal $1800. £1200 is nearly $2400!
And then the drive, given the above, if it's $99 you can be sure it will be £79 instead of £45. For £45 you can buy various alternatives, including the LG GSA-50 which is the same size or smaller, and does exactly the same job.
The MacBook Air, and all related products are exactly that - nothing but hot air. Avoid like the plague if you value your finances.
That sucks bro, maybe since Apple is a US based company they're taxing you guys in the UK to help make up for the pain they suffered until 1776.
Why you gotta bring up that old shit.
They could well be doing just that, Elliot. However all the years of British genius that we have recently lent you should by far have made up for that by now.
Actually, they don't "expect" you to do jack shit, except whine-and you seem to be doing a fair job of that all by yourself :p
Shut up already.
How about I get a regular external optical drive that will cost me 50 bucks less instead?
I know this one's a slot loader and it's "sexy", but what the hell, it's an external drive - for a few bucks more I could get a game console!
Well you've got VAT which tacks 18% onto the price, and then there is apple's additional costs for getting the computer approved for sale in europe. In the US we still have to pay sales tax, so what seems like 1800 is actually $1950 at the register.
After a little google calculating £1200 * .82(subtracting 18% VAT) = £984 in $ = $1927.26 a $127.26 premium for your import, perfectly comparable to Japanese Tech imports to the US so I am lost to why you have your panties in such a wad.
There are alot of factors involved when it come to setting prices in different countries, However on the price fixing issue, they should be investigated. I don't know about the US and other countries but in the UK everywhere a Apple product is sold, the prices are always the same.
How can it be consider price fixing when you could just buy a PC? Apple sets its prices where it thinks the UK market will buy them, period. Don't like the price? Don't buy it.
If it connects to the new time capsel thing for wireless burning, Internet, and data backup, at 802.11n speeds, thats the macbook air killer feature
That's just about it's ONLY feature. Oh, and that it's thin and metal
It's essentially the 1200 dollar, 13.3 inch, base model macbook, without the extra USB hubs, ethernet ports, Optical drive, or replaceable battery.
Not to mention if you want to do that, you have to spend an additional 3 or four hundred dollars on getting a TC, bring the total price to over 2 grand.
For the price you pay for the MacBookAir, the USB Optical Drive, Time Capsule to replace your External Hard Drive, and a BlueTooth Apple Keyboard and Mouse if you prefer external keyboards and mice, That'll run you around $800 extra. You can get a good MacBook Pro with that extra money. Or you can save the $800, and plug and unplug something into your Mac every other second. Or better yet, run into the other room and share CD Drives with your other computer, the one that you DON'T regret buying. I love Apple, but I can't believe they made such a pathetic product.
I wonder if this will work on my wii, 360 or ps3.
just to try!
Why bother with disc media anymore? Like the floppy, discs are going away fast.
An 8 GB SD Card is $30 and I'd expect prices of 16 GB SD Cards to drop below $70 by summer. Most come with an USB to SD card connector that will do SDHC. 80211.n also allow fast transfer of bulk files.
True, but I would've gladly seen the thinnest part of the Air jump for .16" to .25 if they'd include a CARD READER. For the love of god, a $1799 laptop with one USB had DAMN well better have a card reader.
Umm, maybe because I like having a CD collection, I certainly don't download anything from itunes, or any other provider. I like the certainty of something physical, and mp3's just aren't good enough.
Yeah there is something to be said for actually being able to hold an album in your hands. Plus the cover book (and no, the digital ones don't count).
Apple ought to have integrated this (an optical drive) into Time Capsule, with Remote Disc configured OOTB. That way all of your install/backup data is located in one device and accessible wirelessly.
I'm no Apple fan, but they never said it's over for optical media. I'm right there with them though when they tell us we don't really need them in our notebooks.
I guess I'll be seeing these things at my local Starbucks soon enough, along with venti soy caramel lattes. Ugh.
you never need the optical drive in your apple notebook for anything, except for the dvd player app bundled with osx, and the dvd playback feature in front row... otherwise you can always get a faster, cheaper external optical drive.
i rarely use my optical drive. in fact, i ripped it out of my business laptop to save some weight!
anyways, im kinda curious if this drive will work for my windows desktop... it should right?
Hey Apple, where is the Blu-ray super drive???!!! Get with the times, DVD's are so last decade!
Indeed. People might be using flash drives and memory cards for storage, but what about HD media?
i would be quite happy if this would play nice with an AppleTV, apple TV plus DVD player/burner = happiness. Please!
i would be quite happy if this would play nice with an AppleTV, apple TV plus DVD player/burner = happiness. Please!
Apple isn't doing HD drives yet because of the format war. Once one of the two (BlueRay or HD DVD) win the war and kill the other, then Apple will most likely start utilizing HD media disks.
Like I posted in the other one, I don't see why you need this.
Why not just use an optical drive and external USB IDE case (or one of those IDE/SATA to USB cables) your PC nerd buddy ought to have lying around.
Even if you HAD to buy everything, a 5.25" external case and a DL DVD burner will set you back $45 at Newegg.
I think it'd be kinda cool if this could be used as an add-on DVD player for AppleTV. It's got the right profile and a DVD player is one (no, not the only) of the major features ATV lacks.
So what's so super about this "SuperDrive"?
8x Speed the fastest Super Drive on the planet!!! [/sarcasm]
I thought only certain external burners would work on a Mac. So the little cheap optical drives on Newegg are not necessarily the answer, or is the incorrect? If I am correct, then $99 for an external burner isn't too bad when compared with what some people charging for Mac-compatible external burners.
I'd like to see one of these sitting atop a hacked AppleTV. Make a nice little DVD player add-on!
That would be great indeed!
Lol.. this thing is probably FATTER than the Air itself..
Seriously, what makes the Superdrive worth $100?
I like the design and at the end of the day you are paying only $30-40 difference from a similar size external bulky, ugly USB DVD writer. $30-40, I drink that in 1hour max. So, if you need an external DVD writer this one looks good. Hope I will be able to plug it in my wife's Macbook that only has a DVD reader and she always complaints that she needs to use my laptop to burn her DVDs.
Definitely looking forward to testing this with an external USB hub (since air has only one USB port) and would love it to work on other, older macs and NOT require Leopard. I have iMacs, PowerBooks etc that could use this right now.
But I bet that would not work. Any ordinary bus will not supply enough power; unless Apple creates a magical overpriced rounded-corner hub for twice as much as any other brand, made just for this, with more amps.
I've got a DVD slotload superdrive mfg by NU from Newegg about a year ago which works off of just my Mac Mini or PC usb power. Seems Newegg no longer sells it though.
http://www.nu-global.com/1_english/3_products/01_ide.php?pID=46
I might agree with Solosalsa though if a non-powered hub is used although I've not tried it... off just the one usb port I don't think it should be an issue though.
wireless optical drive?? i mean wtf...something tells me that means skippy/shitty HD quality when watching a blu-ray/HD-DVD movie....oh wait u don't even get an HD drive for $1800-$3000
Maybe they boosted the USB Power on the MacBook Air in some way, if not why would Apple say that?
I was just going to say that. No optical drive could be powered by any ordinary USB. I am quite positive that the MacBook Air has bumped-up the amperage to get this thing spinning. On any other computer, the drive would spin, but probably never reach even 1x speed.
It seems that some are missing the point of the Air. It is an ultra portable. It is like the EEEPC only with better speeds and mac os (and a bit more $$$). I have an MBP and I only use my Disc Drive for burning movies. I don't even use my USB ports except when syncing my Blackberry. The firewire port has never been used and the express slot is getting dusty. I use my MBP exactly how the Air is supposed to be used. I always have my comp with me for business so I would prefer not to have to carry around a weighty computer that tries to dislocate my shoulder every time I stand still too long. I have every intention of picking up an Air this year, and I will be purchasing an external Superdrive.
~JMD
Maybe it's just me but aren't you unimpressed with a thing called "Air" that needs so many fucking wires?
You are some sex starved dolt or just lazy with your expressions. I once asked a fella why he would have sex with a "pan of beans" when he referred to them in such a manner
what wires? a power cable and a usb cable for an OPTIONAL superdrive?
Sit down and have a cup of tea. Tell us about this huge tangle of wires, slowly and calmly.
Back in the day, the typical Apple customer was someone heavily involved in media production and editing. Macs had all the best software, the best drivers, and the best interface. Hell, you can't even buy Logic for the PC. Here, Apple has created a computer with no way to burn a cd, no optical output (that I have found), no RAM additions to run sound and/or graphic intensive programs, one USB port, and one mono speaker. In one generation, Mac users have gone from producing their own music to listening to music on Myspace.
Maybe it's just that air serves none of my needs, but I think Apple really jumped the shark on this one.
I seriously doubt that apple think it's over for optical media, considering they went to the trouble of creating a wireless drive reader.
Which is great, considering to do it you need both a wireless network, and another computer with an optical drive.
Would be great if this thing would work for apple TV…
oh why dont iu go with the viao tz. it has everything and is still a small laptop and mac can go to hell though the touch is the best portable video mp3 yet
and still bluray turns out better than apple tv. v2.0
It seems to me that you pay more for a lot less. Less weight, less capabilities. Not a very good tradeoff as far as I am concerned. I'll keep my MacBook which can do more for less.
I think the point of this laptop is to be an ultraportable, as much power as they could stuff into the smallest package and still be usable with a reasonable sized screen and controls. Yes I'd like one, but no I don't want to pay that much, so I'll wait until I can get one for a better price, preferably with WiMax and a 45nm processor core and the solid state drive comes in a bit cheaper.
I expect that some more laptops like this will appear from makers and it won't matter what I buy as I already run virtual machines.
Oh and I'm from the UK - lots of things are overpriced here - but we have consumer rights that you can't sign away when you buy products - so when I say something is 'not fit for purpose' to a computer store within 28 days they take it back and I'm covered for a year to fix or replace faulty items, not such a bad deal.
You need to look at this cool video on the MacBook Air.
I have had 2 clients call me about ordering the Macbook Air because they think it looks good. Once i explain what it does not have they come back down to earth and realize it's a joke.
check this out...you'll like it
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=stevesperandeo
Fine but do I get an ultrathin titanium casing for this price? I doubt it.
I haven't used a disk for a long while. I download music, watch dvds on my tv, and download software. (Yes, all legally). I wouldn't miss it much.
why do people keep comparing this to the eee and other umpc's. Besides weight, it isn't any more portable than a mb. The MB has all the things you would need to spend $$ on dongles for.
Weight seriously can't be that huge a factor my 17" laptop only ways 10 pounds, and I carry it around fine.
Apple's product development team needs to get out into the real world more often. No optical drive? Non-user-replaceable battery? Give me a break!