Where did my CD slot go on my new Mac OS Catalina?

Unfortunately, iMacs have not had internal DVD/CD drives for about 8 years. Your choices are to purchase an external drive that is USB3 compatible or return the iMac and purchase a computer that has internal drives. Not the answer you were hoping for sorry.

I feel your pain. With the advent of 1000 year lifetime M-Disc, we are now required to put a lot of our data on optical media. My brand new $11,000 Mac Pro has no optical drive. We are using the unit below. It works perfectly with OS 10.15, Catalina.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3UBDRW14/

Other than being a customer, I have no financial relationship with the above company.

ACnotech wrote:

Many thnx, much appreciated.

Don't waste your money on the Apple Superdrive. You can get ones from other manufacturers that work just as well and are a third to a fifth of the cost. I think the LG CD/DVD external I bought cost me about $20. It works very well.

If you have another computer, either Mac or Windows, on the same network, there is a workabout if you only need to read a disk:

Use the CD or DVD drive from another computer with your Mac - Apple Support

You have 14 days to return it for a full refund. But external CD drives are inexpensive.

I would add that the external optical drives are readily available at very low prices from many sources.

I also have new iMac. I connected the external Apple Super Drive and works great. Color matches the iMac and sits on the base.

Those super slim drives had a very high failure rate and totally unreliable. I had to have two replaced through Applecare and bought an external years ago. Not that cool looking, but it is dependable and works. Apple has also declared DVDs "outdated tech" so telling Apple is a pure waste of time.

I hear your annoyance. The good news, if there is some, is that the new CD players are very inexpensive these days. And there are a lot to choose from. They are now much more compact as well.

Jeff Donald Said:

"Bought a new Mac with OS Catalina but discovered there was no side slot to put in my CDs. Am very annoyed and if I cked it at the store, I might not have bothered buying it!! The CDs I use are not the fun music ones but for dr reports including xrays. So now what! Have to pay more money for external CD?? Help!"

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Tell Apple What you Want:

There are none built into them any more. Give Apple your feedback on this. The more they hear from customers, then more they will now what is going on, and what their customers prefer.

Apple Feedback Information:

1. Go Here: Feedback - iMac - Apple
2. Select: "Feature Request" for the "Feedback Type"
3. Proceed from there as necessary

Sadly yes, Apple dropped Optical Drives. :(

And since the optical drives are the parts that usually failed, it is better to have an external one anyway.

Steve Jobs > Quotes ...

“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”

This is a bit off the subject, but Henry Ford DID NOT continue to know what the public wanted. He kept churning out Model T's way too long until it became clear that G.M. was beating his sox off. Then he finally rushed to come out with the Model A. And Steve Jobs also, like Henry Ford, allowed his rather massive ego to get in the way of some prudent decisions. Everyone is fallible at some times (except, of course, me).