I am unable to find a DVD CD external drive compatible with M1 on MacBook Air

as I stated earlier, you can go to OWC’s website to find a third party drive that is Mac compatible.

and, in any event, the superdrive will not work on a PC. so testing it on your "dell" computer would be fruitless. have you tested it on a different model Mac? it is possible you have a defective superdrive.

Are you aware that the drive's icon itself will NOT show on your desktop? Once you insert a CD or DVD, that icon should show on your desktop though. And, it is better to have a drive that has its own power supply so it does not stress the USB port.

I had a Toshiba external optical drive. My son wanted it use it on his Apple silicone MBA so he has it now ... works perfectly he tells me.

Got it from Amazon for $13 US. Needs an adapter but I had several just laying around do I gave him a couple. They were something like $6US a pair.

Maybe your drive is busted. We've had one fail.

Expat51 wrote:

The apple USB Superdrive is not supported on a M1 using the USB adapter. that is a fact from Apple reps...It is not the adapter for USB C that is not working... M1 just does not have enough "power" to run a DVD player especially the Apple Superdrive.

I'm sorry, but there are many users successfully using the apple superdrive with their apple silicon Macs. the apple rep you spoke with is mistaken. the times it will not work is when it is connected through a dock or hub. and also, you should use the apple branded USB-C to USB Adapter or the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. not all adapters are created equal. with third party adapters, it is a craps shoot as to wether or not they work.

but if you are absolutely convinced the apple superdrive won't work, you can go to OWC’s website to search for a third party optical drive. their main focus is apple compatible hardware.

Expat51 wrote:

The apple USB Superdrive is not supported on a M1 using the USB adapter. that is a fact from Apple reps...It is not the adapter for USB C that is not working... M1 just does not have enough "power" to run a DVD player especially the Apple Superdrive.

Did these Apple reps explain to you why the product description reads as follows?

Apple USB SuperDrive - Apple

"Compatible with the following computers:

The Apple USB SuperDrive is compatible with Mac models from 2008 and later that don't have a built-in optical drive.

MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models with USB-C ports require a USB-C to USB adapter (sold separately) to use Apple USB SuperDrive."

See also:

Is SuperDrive compatible with M1? - Apple Community

which indicates that the USB SuperDrive is compatible, but there may be better (faster) third-party drives.

Expat51 wrote:

I used a Dell USB DVD Drive on the Mac . I did not test the superdrive on a Dell PC.

thanks for that new info. :) if you could get neither the apple nor the dell optical drive to work, it could be something to do with your specific Mac. maybe software related. i'm thinking you should download and run the free version of EtreCheck so we can see if you have some software installed that is causing your issue. make sure you give "full disk access" to etrecheck. Learn how to use it by reading Using EtreCheck. if you need help interpreting the report, you can see how to post the report here by reading How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report. and it automatically obscures sensitive things (like serial numbers) so you don't have to worry about sharing the report here.

Expat51 wrote:

Having been to Apple Store yesterday and sat down with technician - was told it does not recognize the DVD and that SuperDrive was not made to work with MBA M1 2020

tbirdvet's reply should convince you. he has his superdrive working on his M1 MBA. and, not to beat a dead horse, but not even apple techs are infallible. I have yet to meet ANYONE that knows everything.

I couldn't get my Memorex MRX-650LE v7 external CD/DVD drive to work when it was directly connected to one of my M1 iMac's USB C ports through a USB C to A adapter, but when I connected it through my ancient Belkin four port USB hub, which has its own external power supply, it did work. So it looks like my M1 iMac's USB C ports lack sufficient power to operate the drive.

👍🏼 Memorex MRX-650LE v7➡︎Belkin 4 port USB adapter➡︎USB A to C adapter➡︎M1 USB C port worked.

👎🏼 Memorex MRX-650LE v7➡︎USB A to C adapter➡︎M1 USB C port failed.

This is a problem that predates the newest Mac notebooks. The solution is to find an external drive that uses its own power supply or to use a powered USB hub and connect the drive to the hub. Other World Computing sells a slim DVD player with an optional external power supply, for example.

I purchased the Superdrive from Apple store to use on my previous Macbook Pro before I purchased my M1. It continues to work superbly now on my M1 Macbook Pro for the past two years. I will mention that I did have an issue soon after I first bought the Superdrive for the previous computer. Turned out not to be the external drive. The problem was with the USB 3.0 female adapter which was not secure enough when plugged in. I purchased the ANKER series 3 adapter on Amazon and the DVD player has been fine ever since. And I use it at least a 2x/week for all these years. I find that to be impressive.

I have an Apple SD, two Samsung drives and a no name bluray drive all from Amazon and all work with my MBA M1 (also on my iMac and mac Studio).