Region 0 DVD disks won't play on new iMac without switching region codes

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Region 0 DVD disks won't play on new iMac without switching region codes

We just bought a new iMac in the US. It's running macOS 10.15.7 Catalina, fully updated.

When we put a Region 1 DVD into the external drive, it plays. When we put a Region 0 DVD into the external drive, it tells us that we need to change the region code to Region 2/Europe. (These are standard, commercially produced DVDs, with the region code clearly printed on the front of the original packaging.)

Region 0 disks should play everywhere. We can't just switch back and forth between regions (there's a lifetime limit of five region changes). Is there a work-around or some what to tell the iMac to respect the legal region code and actually play this?

iMac Pro

Posted on Nov 21, 2020 1:14 PM

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Answer 1

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Nov 30, 2020 7:51 AM in response to sfsv

Hello sfsv,

We're happy to help with this issue you're having playing DVD's on your new iMac. By default your DVD drive will play based on the DVD region setting for that disc. Is the firmware for that external drive up-to-date? If so, we suggest contacting the manufacturer of that drive for further assistance.

We hope this helps you.

Have a great day!

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Answer 2

sfsv Author

Level 1

20 points

Nov 30, 2020 11:08 AM in response to Joseph_S.

I have this problem no matter what DVD disk drive I use. I reported this while trying to use an Apple SuperDrive. I have already tried contacting Apple, and the support people had no idea what I was talking about, and after they looked it up and read about it, they had no advice about how to fix it, except that it would work today if we switched the region code, and just to be careful to remember not to switch it more than five times. (Who expects an $80 piece of hardware to work more than five times anyway? Well, me, and probably anyone else who has to buy the hardware with their own money.)

I've since confirmed that the same problem exists with another DVD drive from another manufacturer (also with a Region 0 DVD from another publisher). It's possible there's a bug involving how Apple interprets "no region" (Region 0) and "all regions" (Region ALL) disks. They should be interpreted the same, but Apple seems to treat Region 0 as "don't allow anywhere".

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Region 0 DVD disks won't play on new iMac without switching region codes

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