Best
Blu-ray drives for Mac
iMore
2021
Blu-ray discs are the gold standard in physical video formats right now. You probably have a decent Blu-ray collection of your favorite movies, but without one of the best mac Blu-ray drives, you can’t play them on macOS Big Sur. But Blu-rays aren’t just great for movies; they’re also great as storage devices for backups or other relevant data. If you want to play, read, or write Blu-ray discs with your Mac, you’re going to need to start with an excellent Blu-ray drive and one of the best USB-C hubs so you can plug the drive into your Mac. Here are the best mac Blu-ray drives you can buy.
Windows and Mac compatible:
ASUS BW-16D1X-U
Staff Favorite
The ASUS 12X Blu-ray drive has a 16X burning speed, which is among the fastest optical drives out there. Plus, by using a USB 3.0 connection, the ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray drive can also write data much faster than other drives that still use USB 2.0. 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.
Budget option:
SEA TECH aluminum external USB Blu-Ray writer
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!
A lot to offer:
Pioneer BDR-XD07UHD Portable 6X Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray Burner
For both Mac and Windows, this beautifully designed reader offers BDXL support for high-capacity disc-writing for Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. It also includes M-Disc support for longer recordings. Included is the Cyberlink Media Suite, which offers Blu-ray and DVD burning and playback tools.
M-Disc compatible:
Verbatim external Slimline Blu-ray writer
This small drive looks unassuming, but it’s pretty fast for a Blu-ray drive. With a 6X Blu-ray write speed, an 8X DVD write speed, and a 24X CD write speed, you’ll be able to move data onto any disc you want fairly quickly. Plus, it is M-Disc compatible and super compact, making it incredibly easy to take anywhere your MacBook goes.
Don’t forget the software
When it comes to playing Blu-rays on your Mac, you’re going to need software as well as one of the best mac Blu-ray drives. The software is typically expensive. For that reason, I think the SEA TECH Blu-ray drive is worth a look for people who just want to watch Blu-ray movies.
Of course, if you plan on using Blu-rays for hard copies of your work, documents, files, and general backups, it’s probably worth dishing out the extra cash for a drive like the ASUS BW-16D1X-U. It just has way more power than those slimmer drives and will help you transfer all your data to the disc a lot faster.
Either way, you’ll need one of the great drives listed above if you want to watch or burn any Blu-rays on your Mac.
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