A Blu-ray "upgrade kit" for Apple's
revamped Mac mini... sounds like the ultimate for home theater buffs right? After all, such a device holds the promise of adding Blu-ray playback to a
relatively powerful, off-the-shelf micro computer starting at $599 that'll run any of the amazing media center apps available for either Windows 7 (with
some extra legwork) or OS X. Not so fast bub, remember, OS X
still doesn't support native playback of Blu-ray discs pressed by Hollywood's media fairies. As such, Blu-ray films purchased on disc can only be played by booting into Windows -- under OS X you are limited to reading and writing data assuming you already have software like Adobe's Premiere Pro CS3 with Encore or Roxio's Toast with Blu-ray plug-in. Unfortunately, AMEX Digital is purposely unclear on this point by suggesting that the kit will simply "play Hollywood Blu-ray Disc movies on a properly configured PC or MAC." For the extra $199 required to take the BD-UG1 home, we'd suggest a native PC solution,
cheapo standalone Blu-ray player or
PS3 and avoid these headaches altogether. Image of the drive laid bare after the break.
posted November 11th 2009 4:51AM
Why are they writing that it only works with the Mini? I see no reason why it shouldn't fit into the 13-inch MBP.
Couldn't they just make an external bluray for mac if they could only read and write and not play... i.e. easier to get users to adopt (i.e. not having to open a mac)
I've got an LG Blu-Ray burner in an external enclosure (firewire, because the mini doesn't expose its SATA interface outside :-( I can write data with Toast, and data disks mount just like DVD or CD media.
As others have said, there aren't (yet?) any native solutions for playing back Hollywood Blu-Ray content in OSX, but Blu-Rays I've ripped to ISO (with AnyDVD on a PC) can be played with XBMC. (You don't get the menus, but you can pick the video files.) I also expect that the firewire interface isn't fast enough to keep up with the required bitrate. Even the eSATA interface of my enclosure to a new Win7 PC running PowerDVD will lose frames.
Does anybody understand why Blu-ray playback absolutely requires OS level support? I'm a software developer and although I've never looked into this issue specifically, I have absolutely no idea why somebody couldn't just write a driver or a piece of Mac software that handles the media playback.
Pretty sure you could it just would cost money because you would have to pay the steep licensing fee.
I don't mind the lack of Blu-ray. What I can get in HD online and through apple works fine for me. If Apple is going to continue this route they have to start offering 1080p digital versions of movies. Then I can get more behind them.
I think that BR licensing requires the OS to make a lot of changes to how it handles media and block all internal access to it so that there is no possibility that someone could siphon off an unprotected copy. It requires a protected path from the drive all the way to the HDCP port.
Well, I for one think this is pretty cool and I actually might buy one.
Right now I have a dedicated desktop XP PC for ripping BD onto my media server (for personal backup usage). It uses considerably more power than my Mini. If I can use the Mini for ripping and mkv encoding under Bootcamp with this drive, then that'd eliminate an entire machine from my setup and replace it with a machine which sips electricity rather than gulps it.
Just because a component is a "bag of hurt" for some doesn't make it so for everyone.
Now where's that damn putty knife...
I think this is less a mac issue but more a distribution issue. Physical media is definitely going away, I still like to have a disc or a book because I can loan it to my friends. Right now the digital distribution options simply cost too much to justify them given the fact that distribution packaging storage etc. is taken out of the equation. And the blueray discs cost too much as well. So I have actually almost stopped renting or buying movies. Cable with a dvr is good enough.
If you really want to play a Blu-Ray movie in OSX just use MakeMKV + Plex. It works really well. The only problem is you have to rip it first.
Uh. Guys? Doesn't VLC play BluRays?
whine whine... I'm a huge technophile and I haven't played a blu-ray on a computer (PC or Mac) ever. Between watching blu-ray movies from Blockbuster online on my PS3, watching downloaded shows on my WDTV Live, watching other stuff on Hulu on the PS3 (via PlayOn), all the regular TV shows on the DVR, I have not missed, one bit, not having a blu-ray drive in a computer.
Apple can wait for this a lot longer since I know very few Apple users are chomping at the bit for a BD drive.
@rickjames - Thanks, that makes sense. However, Apple is very tightly woven into professional content production through Final Cut, and presumably that's the only reason their part of the industry group. Otherwise, I've seen no indication from them ever pledging to support Bluray in relation to consumers. Why would they? It would cannibalize iTunes sales.
Sorry. F'd up comment system - that was supposed to be a reply to a reply on first post.
What is this 'booting into Windows' of which you speak? What about Linux?
all this crap can be avoided if they only put blu ray in all their computers. this is typical apple protocol which it shouldn't surprise anyone. i love apple computers but not a fan of the lack of blu-ray or at least an option to add the drive onto a custom config.
So you're saying it "just doesn't work".
I still stand by my Mac Blu-Ray solution - a USB Blu-Ray burner , a dual boot MacBook Pro - booting to Windows 7, of course - gives me the Blu-Ray love I can't get from native Apple.
As long as the technology is there, people will find ways to hack it.
This is fantastic i want one, does anybody know where to get this thing, i have googled for hours and cant find where to buy this thing.