How to play Pioneer external blu-ray drive on Macbook Pro mid 2012?

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How to play Pioneer external blu-ray drive on Macbook Pro mid 2012?

Hello:

I desire to watch my 4k UHD Blu-ray DVDs on my laptop. I bought the Pioneer BDR-XS07UHD 4K Blu-Ray Portable Burner & DVD Player Drive and currently own a Macbook Pro 15-inch, Mid 2012 edition running Catalina latest software update. The mac is set up with a 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of memory (2x8 GBS), an Intel HD graphics 4000 1536 MB, the display is a 15.4 inch(1440x900), and a Solid-State SATA Drive of 1 TB.

I did some research before purchasing the Pioneer drive, and there seemed to be a lot of inconsistencies with the playability of external 4k UHD Blu-ray drives in general. Some sources affirm that the 4k devices would work flawlessly with third-party software, and others stated the exact opposite.

I decided to call apple support directly and the representative said that Apple didn’t support any blu-rays or 4k UHD format and that I needed to acquire third-party software to play my 4k UHD and blu-rays. I proceeded and contacted Pioneer directly for more information regarding the playability of the external drive through my mac setup. They responded with this email:

“Thank you for contacting Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.

The drive will work as a Plug and Play device. The operating system will load generic drivers for basic operations.

To enable the playback and recording features, you would need to provide your own software.

Companies like Roxio and Leawo offer such programs.

The software included with the BDR-XS07UHD is only compatible with Windows.

Rocky

Product Support Representative”

I then proceeded in purchasing the external drive from Pioneer and downloaded Blu-ray Player Pro (free version) for which it worked fantastic for DVD and Blu-ray formats. The software’s site stated that it supports 4k resolution, but not 4k UHD discs. So, the search continued.

I went online and downloaded a few third-party software like DVDFab Player 6 for Mac, VLC Media Player, Quicktime, Leawo Blu-ray Player, Macgo Blu-ray Player Pro, Roxio, and others that at the end of the day NONE of them could support 4k UHD on my mac. Some after downloaded simply couldn’t play, and others popped a window that stated my driver isn’t 4k UHD friendly.

After contacting Pioneer regarding this issue, they said that they wouldn’t know how to resolve the situation. Well, that was a lot of help.

I’m posting here if there’s anybody who has had a related issue and knows how to resolve it or if there is anything that can be done to play 4k UHD discs on my MacBook Pro?

Your input would be very appreciated. Thank you!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 17, 2021 5:10 PM

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Answer 1

GM08 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 21, 2021 11:40 AM in response to Johnb-one

Thank you for the quick response, john b. As soon as I get back home I will immediately try this, and let you know how it worked out. Again, thank you so much for taking your time and lending a hand.

Johnb-one wrote:

Sure… as was mentioned by Apple, it doesn’t natively support Blu-Rays. You’ll need a Blu- ray 4k drive, which you have, and some Blu-Ray player software, which you’re gonna have to buy, probably. But VLC 2.0 /3.0( or the latest version) will indeed play Blu-Rays. Go here for that:

https://www.videosolo.com/tutorials/play-blu-ray-with-vlc.html..

results not 100% guaranteed but it should work most of the time, and it’s free ! Can’t beat free. Go to videolanclient. org to get VLC.

john b

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Answer 2

GM08 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 28, 2021 8:14 PM in response to Johnb-one

My bad, I thought I listed 5KPlayer on the list of software that I tried initially but didn't work afterward. I also tried the others on that site and none of them seem to work. I've contacted the tech support team from companies that sell blu-ray software on the App Store, and all of them have stated that their programs don't support 4k UHD blu-ray DVDs discs. Most of them do offer support for the Blu-ray format, just not for the 4k UHD Blu-ray DVD format. I sure do hope I can find a program that works for my MacBook to play 4k UHD blu-ray DVDs.

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Answer 3

Johnb-one

Level 6

9,180 points

Jun 17, 2021 6:33 PM in response to GM08

Sure… as was mentioned by Apple, it doesn’t natively support Blu-Rays. You’ll need a Blu- ray 4k drive, which you have, and some Blu-Ray player software, which you’re gonna have to buy, probably. But VLC 2.0 /3.0( or the latest version) will indeed play Blu-Rays. Go here for that:

https://www.videosolo.com/tutorials/play-blu-ray-with-vlc.html..

results not 100% guaranteed but it should work most of the time, and it’s free ! Can’t beat free. Go to videolanclient. org to get VLC.

john b

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Answer 4

GM08 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 27, 2021 10:53 AM in response to Johnb-one

Hello again. I went to the link that you provided, and when the window opened the site said that it wasn't a private connection. That the site's certification had expired due to misconfiguration or that someone could be impersonating the page to steal personal or financial information. I clicked to visit the site either way and when I clicked to download the first file the Certificate Trust Settings window appeared to log the password of my mac. Is that protocol or is it shady?

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Answer 5

Johnb-one

Level 6

9,180 points

Jun 27, 2021 1:25 PM in response to GM08

Hmmm… if you think & say it’s shady…then it probably is.. than yeah, better safe than sorry… here’s the official VLC site + download:

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/. The latest version is 3.23.1.3which should be ok. I guess you took a look at the tutorial link I sent you.. other than checking to see if there’s a blu-ray player App for Mac OS Mojave?? in the app store, or on the Web somewhere i don’t know what to suggest overall, i’m sure there’s more than one out there.. and they’ll happily sell you a blu ray player app for your Mac.

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Answer 6

GM08 Author

Level 1

10 points

Jun 27, 2021 1:52 PM in response to Johnb-one

Yeah, I thought so. I downloaded the latest VLC app from the site you just posted, and the version that is on the site is 3.0.16 Vetinari. Doesn't seem to be the same as the one that you wrote.

I have checked around and most of the blu-ray software runs my blu-ray DVDs, but not the 4k UHD blu-ray ones. I'd be more than happy to purchase a blu-ray player software that supports 4k UHD Blu-ray discs, but the ones that I have found either don't support them or state that my 4k UHD external drive is not 4k UHD friendly. Whatever that last one means...

If by any chance, you happen to find one and could tell me which one, I would be very grateful.

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Answer 7

Johnb-one

Level 6

9,180 points

Jun 27, 2021 2:46 PM in response to GM08

Well, you could check this out:

https://www.5kplayer.com/video-music-player/top-5-4k-video-players-mac.htm

jb

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How to play Pioneer external blu-ray drive on Macbook Pro mid 2012?

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