Confirmed: MacBook Air SuperDrive does NOT work with other machines
By Ryan Block 
posted January 24th 2008 12:41PM
posted January 24th 2008 12:41PM
P.S. -For inquiring minds: yes, the USB port looks identical to your stock port. Apple is obviously just jamming some more amperage down the line.
P.P.S. -No, this won't work with a powered hub.
silver lining:
this is the first time mac brought out a proprietary product for one of their products and didn't go ahead and rape consumers for it at the cash register.
may this trend continue.
Wow this is a completely sad bitch fest. I can't believe the amount of ignorance from the Mac bashers.
Did it occur to anyone that this drive might just be firmware programmed to not power up until it recieves a special command from the host device?
Seems like something Apple would do...
Or its possible that one of the OS X updates causes any computer that's not a MBA to force the drive into power-off and then ignore it...but i like the hardware idea better, its easier to hack around...
--neg
I like the article. I like how engadget is so "unbiased" againts windows.
I llike how engadget was ripping about Jeff Jones' Vista vulnerability report. And now doesn't give a crap about the major issue that the MacBook Air Superdrive is not compatible with other computers
I'm pretty sure thats how fair journalism works.
/sarcasm
Uh huh. External and Laptop do not belong in the same sentence. I always find it funny when you are carrying around 9 freakin tons of shit to plug into your laptop.
I personally don't see that any different than the old days when laptops were suitcases.
I often wish even the power brick was able to be "embedded" into the laptop as well. I just don't want to carry anything else.
Here's the thing: It's called "MacBook Air Superdrive"
Not "Apple Superdrive"
You see where I'm getting, here? They SPECIFICALLY advertise and sell it as a MacBook Air device, and not as a generic drive. So why shouldn't it be proprietary to the MBA?
If you have a "Zune Dock" for your Zune, you don't expect it to fit your Zen, do you?
If you go into the store and buy a "HD-DVD Player for XBox 360", do you seriously think it's going to work as-is on your PS3 or Dell laptop?
If you buy the docking station for a particular Toshiba laptop, do you really think you should be able to pop your HP laptop onto it, too?
This is marketed as a device for a specific computer. NOWHERE does Apple say it is a generic USB device, and NOWHERE do they insinuate that this is for any other notebook computer.
So there's no trickery here. No evil intent. No deception, and no misleading of the consumer. It does what it's designed to do-- Nothing more, nothing less. I can't fault Apple for that.
If your windshield wipers don't fit on both your Ford Focus and your Ford F-150, you don't proclaim Ford (or the wiper blade makers) to be part of some plan to ruin your day, do you? You just purchase the wipers that fit each vehicle and go on your way, or don't, and choose to have dirty windows.
Some of you will apparently ALWAYS have dirty windows.
the point of usb in the first place was to have interchangeable devices for multiple machines. now they've gone and SNAFU'd this up too. what next?
Don't be an idiot. It's a USB port that can drive more current, nothing more.
furthermore, until there's evidence that this is an amperage thing, i'm not going to take that as an acceptable answer. several manufacturers have made usb-only external DVDRW drives that meet power requirements.
Most PC USB2 hubs/hosts share the power, so if you have just one device plugged in, it can draw upto the combined power of all the free ports. Many new PCs are even taking it further by providing more than the 'standard' 500mA per USB port just in case.
Well that's the whole point, isn't it? The USB ports on the MacBook Air source more than the standadrd 500 mA.
@Rick Wilson,
You maybe right about some external burners needing 1000ma however there are a couple on the market that draw only 500ma, although they have heavily reduced burning speeds, and are dog slow.
LG GSA-E50N Slimline USB This requires 2USB connections to run at full speed, however its only £43.00, approx $80.00. This I can highly recommend, ive bought several for various people and use one myself on a regular basis, its a great buy.
won't the increased power damage other usb electronics?
So this is Apple masterpiece ?
A standard USB or a standard external powered hub has protective current limiting on each port. If you build a power slave, a passive adapter which passes the data lines unbuffered, but replaces the power feed with a high current capable, regulated supply, the Air Superdrive should work. This is soldering iron territory, though. Not for the pure software hacker.
I needed a USB external drive anyway, so I ordered the MacBook Air Superdrive, without ordering the MacBook Air.
I knew when I plugged it into the keyboard USB slot that it might need more power. It did. So I plugged it into a powered USB hub. It's recognized fine in System Profiler. It just won't let me put a CD in. (It spits it continuously back out.)
Put me down as one who thinks it sucks that I can't use this USB device on any computer. I mean, isn't that the reason we buy USB devices--because they work on any machine?