"I want to rip a DVD and I use a 21.5-inch iMac, I haven't done this before so I was hoping that someone can teach me how to do it."

In this guide, we would like to show you how to prepare for DVD ripping on iMac/MacBook and how to rip DVD on iMac/MacBook with the best Mac DVD ripper software tools.

Get an external DVD drive If you don't have one

iMac doesn't have a built-in DVD drive, so if you want to rip a DVD or convert DVD to digital video format on iMac, first you are going to need an external DVD drive for iMac to read and play DVD discs. If you've already got one, connect it to your iMac and insert the DVD disc into the drive and get things started on your iMac.

If you haven't got one, here are the top sellers in external DVD drives on Amazon for your reference.

  • #1. Dell DW316 External USB Slim DVD R/W Optical Drive 429-AAUX
  • #2. LG Electronics 8X USB 2.0 Super Multi Ultra Slim Portable DVD Writer Drive +/-RW External Drive with M-DISC Support (Black) GP65NB60
  • #3. VersionTECH. USB External DVD CD Drive Burner Superdrive for Apple Mac Macbook Pro/Air iMac Laptop, Retail Package
  • #4. Aluminum External USB DVD+RW,-RW Super Drive for Apple - MacBook Air, Pro, iMac, Mini
  • If you've got what's needed in the DVD ripping process, let's begin with our tutorial.

    How to rip DVD on iMac/MacBook using Leawo DVD Ripper for Mac

    There is some excellent DVD ripper software we can use on iMac to rip a DVD. To rip DVD iMac users have a lot of choices, and my first choice would be Leawo DVD Ripper for Mac. It's a DVD ripping program from Leawo Software. The company's a leading media processing software developer. It manufactures and sells some of the best Blu-ray and DVD processing programs in the world and Leawo DVD Ripper is one of the best. It helps you convert DVD to digital video formats with high quality. You can freely play the DVD movie on your iMac/MacBook after using the program to rip it. You can even rip DVD to play on Apple TV or your iPhone or any other mobile devices you have that support playing MP4 and other popular video formats.

    • Leawo DVD Ripper
    • Leawo DVD Ripper

      ☉ Decrypt and rip DVD discs with disc protection and region code
      ☉ Convert DVD to MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLV, and other 180+ HD/SD formats
      ☉ Convert DVD main movie to videos for space saving
      ☉ Convert 2D DVD movies to 3D movies with 6 different 3D effects
      ☉ Fast conversion with NVIDIA CUDA, AMD APP and Intel Quick Sync acceleration technologies

    Step 1. Kick off Leawo DVD Ripper

    Note that Leawo DVD Ripper for Mac is integrated into the company's software suite called Prof.Media. So open Prof.Media on your iMac and then launch DVD Ripper from the main interface of the program. There should be a DVD Ripper button on it. Click on it to load and get to the DVD Ripper's interface.

    Load DVD Ripper

    Step 2. Import the source media file

    Click Add UHD/Blu-ray/DVD>Add from CD-ROM>{the name of your DVD drive} to import the content in the disc to Leawo DVD Ripper for Mac.

    Add DVD content

    Step 3. Confirm the output format

    Find the Format button on top of the video list. It's the second button from the right on the row of buttons above the video file list. And on the menu that follows, choose Change to change the output format. You will be taken to the video format list panel. There are popular formats like MP4, MKV, WMV, MOV and 4K output formats including 4K MP4 and 4K MKV and presets for some popular electronic products like PSP, iPad, Phones running Android and WindowsPhone OS from different smartphone brands. Click on the preset or format you want to make it selected as the default output format.

    Set output format

    Step 4. Adjust the parameters of video

    If you know your way around video parameters, you can customize them by yourself. The video parameters are provided in the program as well for adjustments. Just click on the Format button again and click Edit. The following panel will provide you with several videos and audio parameters for adjusting.

    Change parameters

    Step 5. Start converting

    In the upper right-hand corner sits the Convert button. To proceed to the final step, click on it and you will see the default output path and another Convert button on the following sidebar. So the two things remain to be done are setting up the output path and clicking that Convert button to start ripping the DVD. And that's all. After clicking the Convert button, all you need to do is waiting for the program to finish ripping and converting the DVD to the format you chose.

    Start ripping

    Leawo DVD Ripper for Mac also comes with a built-in video editor that you can use to tweak the video. Overall, it’s a very comprehensive DVD ripping tool for ripping DVDs on an iMac. It's priced at $29.95 for a one-year license. You can also choose to go with an upgraded version of the program: Leawo Blu-ray Ripper for Mac for $44.95 per year. The Blu-ray Ripper can rip both Blu-ray and DVD discs. If you want to rip DVD for free, here’s an option for you, MakeMKV. It's a Blu-ray and DVD ripper and the DVD ripping module is free.

    How to use MakeMKV to rip DVD on iMac/MacBook

    To rip DVD iMac users doesn't have many choices that are free. And technically, MakeMKV is not free, but the DVD Ripping feature is free. Here's how to use it on iMac to rip DVD.

    1. Open MakeMKV on your Mac. If you've enter the DVD disc to the external DVD drive, MakeMKV should detect the disc soon and then you would see a DVD drive icon on it, click on it to load the disc content.

    2. When the disc content is loaded, they will be listed on the right side. Check the box in front of the content you need.

    3. Set an output path for the output video and name the output video from the right side of the program under Output Folder.

    4. Click the MakeMKV button to the right of the Output Folder to enable MakeMKV to start ripping the DVD disc. All the content you've chosen, including subtitles, audio tracks and video titles will all be packed into one video file in MKV format.

    MakeMKV iMac rip DVD

    MakeMKV doesn't offer other choices other than MKV as the output format. And the resulting video file is very large in size. But the quality is also at a high level. So if you care about quality a lot and don't mind the movie taking up your storage space, then you can go with MakeMKV. Although Leawo DVD Ripper for Mac will compress the movie for the sake of saving storage space, but the quality is still in a high level that most people won't be able to notice any difference between the output video and the original DVD. And it provides more output formats and a built-in video editor. If you want more than a simple DVD ripper, go with Leawo DVD Ripper for mac.