Luckily, it’s possible to use discs without buying an external drive thanks to the built-in Remote Disc feature. If you have multiple Macs, such an external drive will allow you to plug it into any Mac you’re using, getting the benefits of optical disc support when you actually need it.

Apple’s isn’t the only option - you can also buy third-party ones, and you’ll find many of them on Amazon and elsewhere. It doesn’t have Blu-Ray support, so you’ll need to find another external drive if you care about that. It plugs into a Mac via a USB cable and allows you to both read and write CDs and DVDs. You can check exactly which size you need when you receive the housing kit.Apple offers their own external drive known as the Apple USB SuperDrive. To make the conversion, you will also need a suitable screwdriver. So, make that last confirmatory check before you buy! The adaptor will convert the connection to USB, enabling you use the internal CD drive like an external device.

The first is for more recent DVD drives that use the SATA connection-these are usually USB 3.0.įor older slimline optical drives, try this DVD case enclosure compatible with an PATA/IDE-to-USB 2.0 connector.īe sure to select the right enclosure for your optical drive. Two types of drive enclosure are available. The connectors will need to be compatible with the optical drive in question. You should be able to find a suitable external optical drive housing on Amazon

External drive enclosure-this also features the necessary adaptor and power supply.

A slimline form factor optical drive-typically from a laptop, some desktops use slimline drives.

To make a USB laptop DVD or CD drive, you will need:

Mac dvd drive internal