Mac has been widely used for a long time but it still lacks an optical drive like what traditional computers normally have to play DVDs and Blu-rays with ease. It is unique and Macbook will continue to stay slim and no optical drive will be forthcoming. The good news is Apple does have a USB SuperDrive to connect to the Macbook for playing CDs and DVDs. So does SuperDrive play Blu-ray? Read on.

Part 1: About SuperDrive

Apple may feel there is a need to make it up to its fans who used to play CDs or DVDs within their computer with an optical drive on. Hence it offers an external optical drive called SuperDrive to the world with the ability to allow users to play CDs or DVDs at ease. Sold at $79, this SuperDrive is sleek and compact yet powerful to watch a DVD movie, install software, create backup discs, and more. Similar to Apple products in other production lines, SuperDrive carries on the simplicity to the uttermost level with only one cable built in the drive already. That being said, when users connect the SuperDrive to their Macbook, there is no need to use an external cable anymore. The unique and modern look of the SuperDrive makes it quite attractive to users worldwide. The most important thing is, it is really tiny to carry on the road and pack in your bag.

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Part 2: Does SuperDrive Play Blu-ray

As told on the internet, Blu-ray is one of the two major High Definition disc formats (the other being HD-DVD) that were introduced to consumers in 2006 to expand the depth, color, and detail viewers could see in images. Hence it is a good format for video enthusiasts looking for picture and sound quality. Unlike CD/DVD, the reflection has a blue hue in Blu-ray. It is superior to CDs and DVDs.

Apple SuperDrive is provided to support CD and DVDs as an external option, but it's limited to CDs and DVDs. Speaking of this, SuperDrive cannot support playback of Blu-rays at the moment.
Blu-ray is dominant yet SuperDrive won’t support to playback Blu-ray? Is it the destiny for Mac users or just a joke? Relax! We still have options to play Blu-ray movies on Mac.

Part 3: Things You Need to Watch Blu-ray Movies on Mac

The perfect solution is that you can install another Blu-ray drive on your Mac. You know there are so many appealing models for Blu-ray playback on the market, Samsung, Sony, LG, and online freeware, just to name a few. Using these external drives, you can connect to Mac with USB cables and play Blu-ray discs at will. Among the top-ranking Blu-ray drives, we will recommend the following ones to you.

Pioneer BDR-XS06

Compatible with Mac right out of the box, the Pioneer BDR-XS06 is a perfect choice for playing Blu-rays on Mac. It offers 6x write speeds on single-layer and dual-layer discs, and up to 4x max write speeds on quad-layer discs, which makes it one of the faster drives around. Don’t worry about the noise as it also has a quiet mode, so it won't make a ton of noise when you're using the drive. By the way, this drive is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and above.

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SEA TECH Blu-ray drive

This one is perfect if you are under budget. It costs less than $100 but you can get more than you think. SEA TECH aluminum external USB Blu-Ray writer SuperDrive is dedicated for Apple MacBook Air, Pro, iMac OPEN BOX. It is completely compatible with Mac, you won't need to reformat or install anything to get the SEA TECH Blu-ray drive to talk to your Mac. Plus, it uses a USB 3.0 connection, meaning all your data transferring is happening at the fast speed of USB 3.0!

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Asus BW-16D1X-U

It is a fancy Blu-ray drive on Mac that it requires operating systems of Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. It prevails on the speed that has a 16X burning speed, which is among the fastest of the optical drives out there. Moreover, the drive is formatted both for Mac and Windows, so you don't have to worry about reformatting the drive if you want to switch back and forth between operating systems.

Besides, you are going to need software as well to play Blu-ray on your Mac except an external optical drive. Speaking of that, Aurora Blu Ray Player for Mac, Macgo's Mac Blu-Ray Player, and Leawo Blu-ray Player for Mac are all qualified and professional Blu-ray players in the industry. In terms of price, features, and easy-to-use functions, Leawo Blu-ray player is the most competitive one.

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Leawo Free Blu-ray Player for Mac offers comprehensive solutions for you to play all kinds of media files on Mac computer, be it iMac or MacBook, with high quality. Originally tailored for Blu-ray content playback, this Blu-ray player software for Mac accepts Blu-ray disc, Blu-ray folder and Blu-ray ISO image file input. Besides, it is compatible with DVD content, which means it can be regarded as a professional DVD player for Mac, and accepts DVD counterparts (DVD disc/folder/ISO image file). Not only is it free of charge, it is also one of the best region-free 4K players.

Most importantly, this media player for Mac is powered by advanced video and audio enhancing technology, that it offers extraordinary and excellent cinema-like movie enjoyment for free.

Part 4: How to Watch Blu-ray Movies on Mac

When it comes to playing Blu-rays on your Mac using the best software ever - Leawo Blu-ray Player for Mac, you will learn a lot from the following step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Download and install the player on Mac.

Click the download button below to obtain and install the player free on Mac. Note that if you are running Mac, click the Mac version to install.

Step 2: Open your Blu-ray disc, folder, or ISO image file.

Click to open the source Blu-ray movie, which may come in disc, folder, or ISO image file. Click Open File to browse the Blu-ray file on your hard drive or click on the disk to directly open the Blu-ray movie in the disc.

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Step 3: Edit the playback options.

Click on the editing button on the main interface to enter the settings page. You can adjust playback options, video and audio output, and DVD/Blu-ray settings freely, which may enhance your overall experience with this player. Note that if you need to re-adjust during playback, just right click to enter the settings page where you will also be able to do settings.

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Step 4: Enjoy the Blu-ray movie.

Once your source Blu-ray movie has been loaded successfully to the player and you have finished the playback settings, you can hit on the playback button to enjoy the movie at ease. By employing the high-end audio processing technology, you are able to enjoy various surround sounds like Dolby, DTS, AAC, TrueHD, DTS-HD, multi-channel sounds including 5.1 and 7.1 channels, etc. The supreme movie experience will impress you deeply.

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Part 5: Conclusion

Knowing that Apple does not include a built-in optical drive with its Macbook is not disappointing anymore because if you just need to play back CD or DVDs, it offers an external optical drive called SuperDrive to you which you can buy from its official site. But it is truly sad to know that SuperDrive does not play Blu-ray movies, being the latter of which is quite trendy in this day and age. Blu-ray has been shaping the movie industry since it was introduced to the world. It is superior to CDs or DVDs with better audio and video quality. Anyway, SuperDrive is and will continue to be limited to CDs and DVDs and forget about Blu-rays.

The good news is there are many third party manufacturers who are able to produce external drives for Mac to play Blu-ray discs at the best output quality, such as Asus, Sea Tech and Pioneer. All these models are available on Amazon and if you have interest to get one of them, just search on Amazon.

Besides, we still need the third party Blu-ray software to help in order to play Blu-ray movies on Mac. In this case, we have recommended Leawo Blu-ray Player for Mac to you because it is the most competitive software to use to play Blu-rays on Mac hassle free. It provides so many powerful features to let users edit the software for better playback experience yet it still remains a handy program which is extremely easy to use, even for beginners. It does not require any technical work but users can get supreme movie experience in return. This is incredible and it is totally true. More than 250k downloads have proven the popularity of this player.