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External DVD drive for M1 Macbook Air

I'm looking for a SPECIFIC external DVD drive that will work with a 2022 M1 Macbook Air. Don't say almost all will, So far none of the three that I've tried have worked (including Superdrive that Apple admits doen't work with M1 Macbook Air)

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Feb 16, 2022 1:29 PM

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Posted on Feb 16, 2022 1:47 PM

The truth is most will work, however depending on the media you insert the Mac may or may not want to read it and mount it.


The M1 Mac is very picky with the media you insert.


I'm using this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MJW5BXZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and while it does work, some things simply do not mount and cannot be seen. Its very hit and miss as to what will mount on my M1 MBA. but if I connect it to my Windows laptop it mounts and reads everything fine. So I know the drive is fine, and its the Mac being picky, which makes it very hard to determine which drives will actually work.


What kind of disc are you trying to read that is not working?



8 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 16, 2022 1:47 PM in response to TSOwiz

The truth is most will work, however depending on the media you insert the Mac may or may not want to read it and mount it.


The M1 Mac is very picky with the media you insert.


I'm using this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MJW5BXZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and while it does work, some things simply do not mount and cannot be seen. Its very hit and miss as to what will mount on my M1 MBA. but if I connect it to my Windows laptop it mounts and reads everything fine. So I know the drive is fine, and its the Mac being picky, which makes it very hard to determine which drives will actually work.


What kind of disc are you trying to read that is not working?



Feb 16, 2022 4:38 PM in response to TSOwiz

Just to be clear.


  1. Did you have a CD/DVD inserted in your SD when you tried to detect it? My SD doesn't show up on my desktop (or in my Finder sidebar) but the disk INSIDE the SD does.
  2. Are you sure that the inserted media is readable (i.e., formatted correctly, not a Windows disk)? I'd try inserting an audio CD or DVD movie in the SD, and see if your MBA detects it. If it sees those disks, then the problem is not with your SD or MBA. Or maybe try taking a look with Disk Utility.

I've never heard of Apple admitting that their SD doesn't work with the MBA. I bought my MBA last month, and had my SD for about 10 years. Just bought an adapter, and ran with it. It is an M1 machine, not an Intel.


FWIW, I've been told by the 'experts' that the M1 won't do this or that, and always found that (so far), it's just not true. Not from what I've heard, but from what I've actually done.

Feb 16, 2022 3:01 PM in response to Phil0124

I used to own that very model that you have. I returned it, not only because it stopped working after a week, but also because of the cheap plastic case that seemed very fragile. And, I'll admit by the way, that when plugged in, it at least showed an icon on the desktop and in Finder - for a week. Neither of the others died that

External DVD drive for M1 Macbook Air

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