I am considering buying a new imac m4. Will it support the Apple Superdrive for me to play CD

1) Be sure to get the iMac 24 with four ports if you plan to use USB externals:

2) The Apple SuperDrive has not been updated since Summer 2012 and seems "iffy" about working with newer Macs. Some people have no issues. Other have nothing but issues.

3) Several sources recommend using only Apple USB to USB-C adapters for the SuperDrive's cable interface. One of these:

• USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter
• USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter
• USB-C to USB Adapter

4) Remember that the drive will not show up on the desktop unless:

a) a disk is in the drive and

b) Finder preferences are set to show such disks:

5) We will be ordering my wife a new iMac soon. I am considering this OWC drive for her:

OWC Mercury Pro 24X Super-Multi DVD/CD Burner/Reader External Optical Drive with M-DISC Support

for several reasons:

1) Tray-loading optical drives are historically more reliable than slot-loaders like the SuperDrive.

2) OWC's is a much newer internal design rated for USB-3; the SuperDrive is USB-2, 10X slower for some tasks.

3) The OWC is self-powered, therefore more reliable; the SD must rob all its power from the computer

4) The OWC has separate, replaceable power and data cables. The SD has one non-detachable combo cable that cannot be replaced. If the cat chews up the cable, you get to buy a new drive.

you should be,

getting an usb-a to usb-c adaptor and connecting it directly to a mac port rather than usb hub and it should work

other who posted about it

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use should also be able to use other optical drives than apple made ones, the interface is generic

Del37 wrote:

I use my old imac to play and record CD's. Will I be able to continue to do this with the new M4 model using the Superdrive CD player?

Do you mean the 24" M3 iMac?

There are no M4 Macs out now. All current Macs use M2- or M3-family chips, with the exception of some "price-point" M1 MacBook Airs (which don't seem like a great value compared to the M2 models).

I have that OWC CD/DVD drive.

One caveat: The included USB-B 3.0 to USB-A cable, and the cord on the power adapter, are very short. I had to plug the drive into a hub port on my monitor and put a power strip up

on top of my desk. Even given that, I still would go with it again over the Apple USB SuperDrive.