I have a Superdrive, model A1379 that is not mounting on the current machines running the M1 chip with OSX. Here is what I know.
The drive with commercially prepared CD behaves in the following ways:
DOES NOT MOUNT
Chip Apple M1 Pro
macOS Tahoe 26.2
DOES NOT MOUNT
Chip Apple M1
macOS 15.7.3
MOUNTS!!!
1.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core
macOS Sequoia 15.7.3
Is there an updated driver or Patch for this issue?
Not sure, but I believe the failure to mount th peripheral must be tied to permissions in the system settings.
I would inspect any security setting in the OS that could block the device.
Here is the full response generated by Chat GOT:
No driver is involved here—the SuperDrive’s firmware and macOS handle everything. Since:
then what’s failing is not “USB” in general, but the optical-drive handshake that Apple’s SuperDrive uses.
On Apple-silicon Macs running modern macOS (including Sequoia), there is an extra security layer that can silently block “legacy” USB accessories from fully enumerating even though they have power.
Check this first:
System Settings → Privacy & Security → “Allow accessories to connect”
Set it to:
Automatically when unlocked
or
Always
Then:
On M-series Macs, external accessories that identify as “special class” devices (the SuperDrive does) may not complete enumeration if the system is locked or the policy is restrictive. When that happens, the drive will:
That matches your symptoms exactly.
If after changing that setting and rebooting it still does not appear in:
About This Mac → System Report → USB
then the issue is a firmware negotiation failure between that particular SuperDrive and Apple-silicon hardware. There is no driver you can install to fix that—Apple never released one, and the SuperDrive firmware itself is not user-updatable.
At that point, the practical solution is a third-party USB optical drive, which enumerates as a standard USB Mass Storage device and works reliably on M-series Macs.
HTH.
Not sure, but I believe the failure to mount th peripheral must be tied to permissions in the system settings.
I would inspect any security setting in the OS that could block the device.
Here is the full response generated by Chat GOT:
No driver is involved here—the SuperDrive’s firmware and macOS handle everything. Since:
then what’s failing is not “USB” in general, but the optical-drive handshake that Apple’s SuperDrive uses.
On Apple-silicon Macs running modern macOS (including Sequoia), there is an extra security layer that can silently block “legacy” USB accessories from fully enumerating even though they have power.
Check this first:
System Settings → Privacy & Security → “Allow accessories to connect”
Set it to:
Automatically when unlocked
or
Always
Then:
On M-series Macs, external accessories that identify as “special class” devices (the SuperDrive does) may not complete enumeration if the system is locked or the policy is restrictive. When that happens, the drive will:
That matches your symptoms exactly.
If after changing that setting and rebooting it still does not appear in:
About This Mac → System Report → USB
then the issue is a firmware negotiation failure between that particular SuperDrive and Apple-silicon hardware. There is no driver you can install to fix that—Apple never released one, and the SuperDrive firmware itself is not user-updatable.
At that point, the practical solution is a third-party USB optical drive, which enumerates as a standard USB Mass Storage device and works reliably on M-series Macs.
HTH.
I have an update based on my support call that was passed to senior engineers re: this issue.
Long story short, it's a known incompatibility issue. The A1379 SuperDrives are NOT supported on Apple Silicon Macs due to significant changes in the overall power requirements for the newer chip power efficiency design + several other factors.
Their internal support documents reference this and the units are unsupported, but some people are successfully connecting them. At best its hit or miss and as macOS continues to update any remaining connectivity will likely terminate.
Short answer is you need to get a new drive from another manufacturer if you need/want access to CD-R files, audio, DVD, etc. Why this information isn't on the support threads, I don't know. I asked them to make the information public but who knows if they will.
Their "unofficial" recommendations: LG GP60NB50 USB, Pioneer BDR-XD08B (USC-C), Samsung SE-208
Wish I had better news, but at least this post will make people aware that the drives are not compatible, and not supported.
Chat GPT provided the following correct answer:
System Settings → Privacy & Security → “Allow accessories to connect”
Set it to:
Automatically when unlocked
or
Always
This remedy is specific to Apple Silicon Macs requires a restart of the system, forn the preference change to take effect.
I am having this problem too and the remedy suggested is not working, even after making the change as directed, shutting down the computer and restarting it.
MacBook Pro 13" M1 chip, 2020
macOS 26.3
Apple USB Superdrive model A1379
I can tell that the unit is receiving power via a direct connect to one of the two USB 3.0 inputs because I can see in my system report profile :
USB 3.1 Bus
MacBook Air SuperDrive:
Location ID: 0x01100000
Connection Type: Removable
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Serial Number: KZ8Z1K44414
Link Speed: 480 Mb/s
USB Vendor ID: 0x05ac
USB Product ID: 0x1500
USB Product Version: 0x0203
Power Allocated: 5.5 W (1100 mA)
The unit, regardless of disc type, CD-R, DVD, Audio CD will take in the disc for a moment then reject it. Any additional ideas and solutions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
SuperDrive A1379 not mounting on M1 Macs. Need driver?
