I have a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro, 16gigs ram, and my optical drive will copy CD's to iTunes, play old burned DVDs I have had for years, but it will not play any newer DVD? It starts spinning up and then ejects them
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15
The first issue to assume when an old slot-load optical drive gets selective in what it plays is dirt. Slot-load drives get filthy inside.
I have fixed at least three Macbook Pros of the vintage with your same symptoms with a drive cleaning disk. They are typically US$5-15 online or at home electronic stores, computer shops, and even office "superstores" like Staples.
The first issue to assume when an old slot-load optical drive gets selective in what it plays is dirt. Slot-load drives get filthy inside.
I have fixed at least three Macbook Pros of the vintage with your same symptoms with a drive cleaning disk. They are typically US$5-15 online or at home electronic stores, computer shops, and even office "superstores" like Staples.
If only DVDs are not working, then the optical drive's laser is too weak. Get an external optical drive.
If only the newer DVDs are not working, then they are probably utilizing some newer form of DRM (aka Digital Rights Management, aka content/copy protection) which your older macOS does not understand. If it is a video based DVD, then try using the third party app VLC to see if it can play the DVD, but if VLC cannot, then you will need to use a computer with a newer version of macOS.
Well, it turns out that Allen Jones is right. I did download the VLC app, but it still would not play any of my newer DVD's. I used my old Radio Shack CD cleaner last night and ran it through the process several times. And that is what it was! A dirty lens as now it plays perfectly with any of my DVD's! Thank you all for your advice! Much appreciated.
Brian L
You are most welcome. Thanks for the follow-up.
Allan
Mid 2012 MacBook Pro optical drive only works with CD's and old burned copies
