Recommendations for a CD/DVD drive for iMac 2024 desktop

Optical drives and hard drives are two different things.

I have a desktop CD/DVD burner that I bought from Other World Computing. This drive:

• Has its own power supply. Some portable burners want to tie up two ports (so they can suck more power than a single port is required to provide), or are finicky about where they are connected (Apple's discontinued drive had that reputation).
• Has a detachable power supply which can be replaced separately from the drive.
• Has a detachable data cable (USB 3.0 B to USB-A) which can be replaced separately from the drive should a cat chew it or should you need a different type of cable (e.g., USB 3.0 B to USB-C).

Unfortunately, it looks like Other World Computing no longer sells it.

Other World Computing – External Optical Drives

They do have a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray version, but the Blu-Ray capability adds quite a bit to the price – and you'd need to get a separate application to play Blu-Ray movies.

You can also buy just the nice enclosure, and then add an internal optical drive that you purchase some place else, separately.

I use an ASUS SBW-06D2X-U Ekstern Blu-Ray Disk Drev - USB, 6X

though I've yet to use it for blueray both viewing and burning