Mac mini features the apple t2 security chip secondgeneration custom mac silicon designed by apple to make mac mini even more secure. How to use cds, dvds, and blurays on a mac without an. Select a model above to see specific upgrade options for your mac mini. The whole process takes about 4560 minutes depending on how familiar you. The t2 security chip consolidates several controllers into one, and includes a secure enclave coprocessor that provides the foundation for encrypted storage and secure boot capabilities. Installing windows 7 through boot camp with no optical. Theres no separate power adapter, and it works whether your mac is plugged in or running on battery power. Its also highly compatible and supports macbook, macbook air, imac, mac mini, and others. Jan 24, 2020 best external dvd drives for laptops, pcs, and macs. To use any of these key combinations, press and hold the keys immediately after pressing the power button to turn on your mac, or immediately after your mac begins to restart. There are a plethora of dvd drives available from branded and nonbranded manufacturers but.
Ive got this model mac mini and the optical drive has a disc stuck in it. Does anyone know if there is an emergency release mechanism anywhere. You can daisychain as many as six thunderbolt devices to a single port. Mar 31, 20 this is my project and guide on replacing the internal optical drive to a 2nd hard drive in the apple mac mini mid2010. The only gripe about this external optical drive is that usb cable is short and is nondetachable. First plug in the external drive to a usb port that you know works with other devices now insert a dvd movie that you know w. However, from the mid2011 models onwards, all models of mac mini had the optical drive removed. It is a usb drive, can burn dvdcd media, and is not costly. My mac mini does not have a drive for these, this works and solves the problem, and. How to open an external drive thats not showing on mac.
The owc ministack is the compact, stackable, external hard drive solution designed to complement the look and feel of the latest mac lineup. Attaching a apple usb superdrive to the mac allows it to do the things that other computers with a dvd drive can do. But you can still use cds, dvds, blurays, and other optical discs on your mac. It connects to your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac, or mac mini with a single usb typea cable thats built into the superdrive. Does the mac mini come preloaded with any software. The original release of the mac mini had a cddvd optical drive. Ministack max adds external storage, optical drive, esata. You can tuck it away anywhere that makes the most sense for you. External dvd drive, usb type c ultraslim portable cd dvd rwdvd cd rom burner writer superdrive with high speed data transfer and touch eject button for mac macbook proair imac laptop pc sliver. Whats in the box apple usb superdrive with attached usb typea connector cable. So, even in 2019, there are still situations when you need an external optical drive. The y cable works just fine, id be ok with it at my office, but there is no way it would work with the mba usb ports being on opposite sides of the computer. Bootable optical media cd or dvd on macs equipped with apples super drive or a usb thumb drive formatted with a guid partition type and containing an os x installer or a usable operating system.
Most optical discs are a standard 12cm in diameter, are round, and besides some potential manufacturing incompatibilities with. Dec 11, 2019 it should just work, i have been doing exactly that for many years and external dvds have always worked on my macs. Installing windows 7 through boot camp with no optical drive. A solid little mac, but losing the optical drive while not shrinking in size. Install memory, hdd, and optical drive in a mac mini. Apple advises against booting from external storage containing a version of mac os x earlier than the one your mac shipped with. Mavericks many of us had extended the life of our old mac computers replacing the optical drive with an ssd. How to replace internal optical drive with 2nd hard drive on.
Install a windows 7 partition on mac osx without optical. The two thunderbolt 2 ports on mac mini feature dual 20gbps channels for data transfer. It connects to your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac or mac mini with a single usb typea cable thats built into the superdrive. I searched in the usual obvious places but was unable to find it. The ministack max from newer technology adds an external drive, optical drive, sd card reader and usb powered hub to your mac mini. Youll never have to worry about lost cables with the apple usb superdrive. Optical drives went the way of the dodo bird a few years ago on mac computers due to most software, movies, and music all moving online, but sometimes you still need a good old fashioned cd drive.
Be sure to press and hold all keys in the combination together, not one at a time. Replace the optical drive in some mac minis and some intel imacs. With a footprint identical to the 2010 and later mac mini, the two stack together for seamless desktop integration. While the mac mini still has a couple of traditional usb ports thank all the things, usbc will become the standard pretty soon.
Preprogrammed for both mac and windows, you shouldnt need to do any formatting to get the drive to work. If a key combination doesnt work at startup, one of these these solutions might help. This mac mini does not have an internal optical drive. Create an external place any internal bluray drive into the external enclosure of your choice to create a custom bluray external drive. Im trying to determine whether i will need to remove the entire optical drive or not. The one annoyance with the new mac mini was the lack of an optical drive. Apr 01, 2020 for a reasonable price, asus zendrive offers 8xdvd write speed and mdisk format support, which is designed to protect you from memory degradation and data loss. Heres how to access the contents on a usb drive that wont open on your mac. Regular mid2010 aluminum unibody mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2. The external drive has got rubber pads on the bottom that prevents it from slipping on the surface. Now very reluctantly thinking of adding yet another peripheral. The macbook air superdrive has unique firmware which prevents it from being properly recognized as a plug and play optical usb drive by windows. Shop apple superdrive 8x external usb doublelayer dvdrwcdrw drive silver at best buy.
This drive from nolyth is practically just as good as apples superdrive and it is usbc out of the box, so no need for adapters. Jul 06, 2012 the same usb port on my hp tower works just fine to power and readwrite data on my external hard drive, but if i plug in the dvd burner instead i get crap results. Hi im thinking of buying the first model of mac mini 2. Apr 04, 2017 need an optical drive for your mac or windows system so you can read audio cds, watch dvd movies or just read and write data disks. Apple usb superdrive apple claims that its usb superdrive has everything you need in an optical drive. Usb external dvd drive burner case for macbook air pro imac mac mini superdrive.
The tricks here are similar to how youd access an optical drive on a windows ultrabook or. How to boot a mac from usb drive with pictures wikihow. Macbook pro with retina display macbook air imac late 2012 and later mac mini late 2009 and later mac pro late 20. This external dvd optical drive is ultra slim and has usb 2. But when some day you try to install windows in bootcamp partition you will start searching for ways and no one will works for your computer. You can connect this superdrive with your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac, or mac mini with a single usb type a cable, which is built into this superdrive. Internal superdrive duallayer for apple mac mini owc.
Find the best external dvd drives for macs based on what customers said. Usb c typec ultra slim external dvd drive burner optical drive cd rw dvd rw superdrive disc duplicator compatible with mac macbook pro air imac and laptop 3. Sep 14, 2015 bootable optical media cd or dvd on macs equipped with apples super drive or a usb thumb drive formatted with a guid partition type and containing an os x installer or a usable operating system. The last apple mac to ship with an optical cd or dvd drive was a in macbook pro, originally released in june 2012, but on sale until october 2016, when apple discontinued that model, more. Early intel mac minis offer two ram slots for easy upgrades, and use 2. The modern mac mini is carved from a solid block of aluminum. My mac mini does not have a drive for these, this works and solves the problem. Apples macbook air, along with many other macs, no longer includes an optical drive. We also prepared the list of top external dvd drives currently available. Apple usb superdrive for apple macbook air pro mac mini md564zma type. How to upgrade aluminum mac mini hard drives or ssds. The mid2010 server model was initially the only mac mini to entirely remove the optical drive, replacing it with a second hard drive in its place. Apple superdrive 8x external usb doublelayer dvdrwcdrw.
How to start up your mac from a bootable cddvd, usb thumb. The tricks here are similar to how youd access an optical drive on a windows ultrabook or similar pc that doesnt include an optical drive of its own. Nov 21, 2018 regular mid2010 aluminum unibody mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2. The mac pro is unique, as you can actually put a second optical drive in it, but apple has vowed to release a new pro desktop in 20 and who knows what its design will be. It should just work, i have been doing exactly that for many years and external dvds have always worked on my macs.
Estimated cost of replacing the internal component. If your mac doesnt have a builtin optical drive and you need to use a cd or dvd, you can connect an external drive like the apple usb superdrive. For a nominal fee, owcs apple certified technicians can install a supermultidrive, hard drive, andor memory upgrade into your mac mini. And it would be the exact same model apple optical drive, not a more robust one. Also included is the shipping safe box, shipping to other world computing, and return delivery of the upgraded mini to you. Internal and external bluray optical drives from owc. Jan 02, 2020 best cd drives for mac mini imore 2020. This version also features an intel iris 5100 graphics or intel hd graphics 5000 gpu. You can also share discs from the optical drive of another mac, or from a windows computer. Upgrade the ram and storage of nearly any apple computer at. But beyond speed, thunderbolt gives you unprecedented expansion capabilities. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. The remote disc feature of your mac lets you use files stored on a cd or dvd hosted from another computer. Unfortunately, little to my knowledge, bootcamp assistant is programmed to not allow installation of windows via usb if your computer had an optical drive in its factory delivered form.
As someone who needs to primarily run windows 7 on this pc, i wasnt sure what the best way to install this would be. Dec 15, 2014 apples macbook air, along with many other macs, no longer includes an optical drive. The last apple mac to ship with an optical cd or dvd drive was a in macbook pro, originally released in june 2012, but on sale until october. Internal dvdcd replacement optical drives from owc. With simplicity, this external drive has stateoftheart technology. The optical drive on my mac mini seems to have died prematurely, as the oem drives are known to do. Including how to format a drive to be used on a mac and a pc and.
Apple updated the mac mini to include intel processors in february 2006. Find the best external cd drives for mac based on what customers said. Since the mac mini lacks an optical drive, you need to buy an external usb optical drive if you want to read or burn cds and dvds. For those familiar with last years mac mini, what youre peering at above isnt likely to strike you as jarring. You can connect this superdrive with your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac, or mac mini with a single usb type a cable. Need an optical drive for your mac or windows system so you can read audio cds, watch dvd movies or just read and write data disks. Use the cd or dvd drive from another computer with your mac. If your laptop does not come with a dvd drive or your pc does not have the 5. How to get my mac to recognize an external dvd drive quora. Fortunately, apple provides the drivers for running windows on a mac, as part of its bootcamp software. Owcs stepbystep video of how to install memory, hard drive, and an optical drive in the apple mac mini intel early 2006, late 2006, mid 2007. Apr 01, 2020 learn about the mac features and tools that you can access by holding down one or more keys during startup. Owc ministack the external drive with a mac mini footprint. Asus powerful bluray drive with 16x writing speed and usb 3.
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