4K UHD Blu-ray reader for M1 Macs?

Hi all. Latest news in the 4K odyssey.

I bought a Pioneer external drive, Model BDR-XS07TUHD https://pioneer-blurayodd.eu/products/bdr-xs07tuhd/index.php It's plug and play, works both with my M1 iMac & M1 MacBook Air, no need to plug the Air to the main AC. It runs quietly and has a very good overall quality. It comes with an app to tweak some settings, to make the silent mode automatic etc.

It can read DVDs with Apple DVD Player.

The only free software that plays Blu-ray well is Leawo FREE Blu-ray Player Mac https://www.leawo.org/blu-ray-player-mac/ AnyMP4 Blu-ray Player for Mac works, but the free version has an obtrusive watermark. Any other app makes both my Macs crash: kernel panic, pink screen, shut down and reboot.

4K discs can be played by the Leawo software too, but in my case it doesn't work: the drive keeps "loading..." the disc. I have been assured it is a compatibility issue with the Pioneer drive, and it will be fixed in the next software update (later this month). In fact, MakeMKV reads 4K discs when inserted and can rip them, so I think it is indeed a software issue with Leawo. I'll update this thread when I know more.

Hope this helps anybody who wishes to play Blu-ray and 4K discs with the new M1 Macs.

Cheers.

Thank you all for your comments. I have contacted DVDFab customer service and this is their reply:

DVDFab UHD programs only support the following drives:

UHD Official Drives:

LG WH16NS60(Internal, Firmware: 1.00) (Recommended)

UHD Official Drives:

Archgon MD-8107S-U3-UHD BU40N (external, USB) Tested

LG WH16NS60 (Internal, Firmware: 1.00)

Buffalo BRUHD-PU3 (External, USB, Firmware: BU10)

LG BU40N (Internal Slim/Laptop, Firmware: FR07, TST0, BU10, CA03, A100)

LG BU50N (Internal Slim/Laptop, Firmware: GE02)

UHD Friendly Drives:

LG BE16NU50 (External, USB, Firmware: 1.01) (Recommended)

LG WH16NS40 (Internal, SVC Code: NS50)

LG BH16NS40 (Internal, SVC Code: NS50)

ASUS BW-12B1ST (Internal, Manufactured 2015+)

ASUS BC-12D2HT (Internal, Manufactured 2015+, Firmware: 3.00)

ASUS BW-16D1HT a (Internal, Manufactured 2015+, Firmware: 3.01)

LG BH16NS55 (Internal, Firmware: 1.00~1.02)

LG WH16NS58 (Internal, Firmware: TST5)

ASUS BW-16D1H-U A201 (External, USB, Manufactured 2015+, Firmware: A201)

LG BU30N (Internal Slim/Laptop, Firmware: 0217, 0245)

If your drive is already with the latest firmware version that is not backup-friendly, you can use DVDFab UHD Drive Tool to downgrade the firmware to the previous one. Check out the supported list below:

UHD friendly drives:

LG WH14NS40 (internal, SVC code: NS50) Tested

LG WH16NS40 (internal, SVC code: NS50) Tested

LG BH16NS40 (internal, SVC code: NS50) Tested

LG UH12NS40 (internal) Tested

LG BH16NS55 (internal) Tested

LG BH14NS58 (internal) Tested

LG BH16NS58 (internal) Tested

LG WH16NS58 (internal) Tested

LG BE16NU50 (external, USB) Tested

ASUS BC-12B1ST a/b (internal, manufactured 2015+) Tested for a

ASUS BC-12D2HT (internal, manufactured 2015+) Tested

ASUS BW-16D1HT a/b (internal, manufactured 2015+) Tested

ASUS BW-16D1H-U (external, USB, Firmware version started with letter A, manufactured 2015+)

UHD official drives:

LG WH16NS60 (internal, recommended) Tested

Note: This list will be constantly updated as we support more drives in the days to come. For more information please check this link: https://www.dvdfab.cn/4k-uhd-drives.htm?trackID=productpage

Perhaps tbirdvet does not have one of the supported drives for reading 4K UHD discs?

I'll try with one of the supported / recommended external drives and will let you know what happens. Thanks.

BTW, "Simple mode" skips the disc menu and plays the main video feature. The other videos can be accessed via the player's menu, or so it seems.

I contacted the AnyMP4 Blu-ray Player for Mac customer service and they cannot guarantee that their software can play 4K UHD Blu-ray Discs. I am unable to find a software that can play 4K discs on a Mac. If anybody knows about any option, please say so. I'd like to be sure before buying an external UHD Blu-ray reader, because they are much more expensive than standard Blu-ray ones, which I now know work fine. Thanks.

Thanks for your reply. It does not seem that the Asus burner you suggest can read 4K UHD Blu-ray Discs, just the standard Blu-Ray ones. I saw the Archgon Star UHD External 4K-Ultra HD BD Player is plug & play for Macs, but the specifics note that "At the moment the only software that can play 4K UHD Blu-ray movies is Cyberlink PowerDVD for Windows and unfortunately there is NOTHING for Mac IOS." Does this hold true? It seems that AnyMP4 Blu-ray Player for Mac does read 4K UHD discs.