Anyone know what one is supposed to do about uploading music from CD's, or watching films from DVD's, or downloading to CD or DVD, when there is no disc drive of any kind that I can find on the new iMac which has just been delivered for my wife?
iMac, iOS 6.0.1
You must buy a separate CD/DVD burner, now.
Apple has one that is supposed to work with the iMac, but dosen't list the iMac as one of the Macs it works with.
You can buy a third party, external FireWire 800 CD/DVD and/or Blu-ray burners from OWC (macsales) or from LaCie.
Many, including myself, do not like this option. I can understands perhaps the decline of CDs, but DVDs are still aplenty everywhere. And I still burn personal and family videos to DVD.
Having to add an extra desktop cluttering and wired device goes against the clean minimal footprint of just the iMac and its wireless keyboard and mouse.
Plus, it is now a very significant extra cost.
Plus, I do not use Time Machine any longer. I gotten burned too many times by not being able to retrieve data. So, now, I have gone back to backing up only selected important data like important docs and projects, videos and images to DVD, manually. I use both my older iMac's internal SuperDrive and an external FW SuperDrive.
Apple did what it did. We all have to deal with their decision to do away with the built-in drive.
I just read that there is no longer any FireWire connections on the new iMacs, either.
So, you'll need to purchase either a USB CD/DVD burner or a burner with a Thunderbolt connection.
As far as I know, there are FW > Thunderbolt adapters.
thanks for the Update on the new iMac's
It is a shame you did not research your purchase first ... there have been more than a few derogatory comments in these columns on this subject.
But I am hugely sympathetic to you regardless; I remember the feeling of having the chance to get a new Mac (and in your case) give one. All the same, you have two options.
Return it as unsatisfactory within 14 days for a full refund ... or ... Go out and buy the optical accessory.
If you have a WiFi network and multiple computers you can add a utility to allows your spouses new iMac to hijack (share) an optical drive installed in another computer.
That computer can be a Windows Pc or anothor Mac
This is the link to the PC download.
This is installed on the PC and when installed the PC must be on.
A message requesting/authorizing sharing is seen acknowledged by the PC operator
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL112
On a doner Mac you just go to Apple Menu/Systempreferences/Sharing - Then tick the DVD/CD sharing tab on the donor machine. You can also tick the ask permission box as well if you want.
Once done when your spouse opens a Finder window she will see a remote drive icon - that's the remote optical drive.
Place a disc in the remote drive and it mounts here as if the CD was in a local optical drive !
You do know the iMac can share another computers optical drive just as Macbook Airs do ?
Hi Keith,
Yes, that is a solution but to be honest, a very messy one.
People got hooked on Macs for their all in one presense, neat, tidy and uncluttered. Able to fit into a normal tidy home without dominating the environment.
Your solution, while practical, meets none of these qualities and I suspect most people would prefer to avoid the congestion.
Actually It is the official solution and if its Mac to Mac its almost automatic (No additional software - one click on the doner machine !)
As the op now has an iMac with the function they need to know what to do and not be advised to return the machine or worse still advised to buy unnecessary extra equipment !
Fact is unless you are a gamer (Then yes you are on the wrong OS period !) the CD/DVD drive is becoming obsolete.
Even the much vaunted Blu-Ray which has now been around for a number of years simply isn't taking off !
So if its to get music into iTunes or images across the doner route will work.
That said there are actually better ways of sharing since both iTunes and iPhoto can share these over the air within the app via iCloud services or if the files are already on another networked computer simply network and copy the files from one computer to another from within finder.
You can even use a thumbdrive to copy files if you must !
Well yes, I suppose it could be called an 'official' solution but wouldn't you think that once having made the decision, Apple would have needed to scour high and low for 'good' reasons to justify it. Their primary reason is profit but it goes against the ethos of a Mac, so carefully cultivated over the years.
They are doing no more than the average supermarket does when it cuts down pack sizes or contents while maintaining the same price.
But we could argue this one all day. đ
They are a business and ALL businesses are about profit !
They design and build to a price point, and add/remove features functions and indeed hardware as deemed necessary to meet corporate commercial decisions.
Clearly Apple have decided that the optical drive no longer meets their future mission statement - indeed it doesn't since Apple believe the future is networked and cloud storage including media sharing !
Indeed the Apple ship is sailing away from moving platters of any sort [These break !]
At this time they are a little ahead of the curve - PC ultrabooks are slowly following suit but are currently seen as expensive compared to the commodity PCs sold in warehouses !
All that said they have given users a way to use an existing optical drive where they have one and the option to buy a external unit -they will have made a calculation that they may sell a few with a nice profit margin [good business] however may loose some to third parties Hoo Hum.
What the industry as whole needs is profit margin and yields to be improved and for the prices recover across the board- The reason MIcrosoft/Sony and indeed Samsung are moving towards direct sales is to drive margin image and desirability upwards !
The warehouses and their demand for ever cheaper prices (And as a result lower quality) has harmed the true value of this industry.
The myth is business makes things Customers want - Wrong businesses make things then persuade customers that they need them - Quite different !
Digressed a little from the op and probably site T&Cs sorry !
Buy any USB connected External DVD drive. It Does Not have to be an Apple brand drive. Any will work. Get one that is Tray Load and not slot load.
I bought a Samsung external burner for $24 (sale) and find I prefer that over the optical drive in my just sold iMac. Uses usb.
Hugh
Fact is unless you are a gamer (Then yes you are on the wrong OS period !) the CD/DVD drive is becoming obsolete.
You are entitled to your opinion. I do a fair share of video editing/producing slideshows. All of my contacts, clients, friends and family demand the result on a DVD. Personally, I also prefer watching my "masterpiece" on my large HDTV in a comfortable recliner rather than sitting in front of a computer. I will not give up producing CDs and DVDs as long as a) there are DVD players being sold, and b) stores are still selling CDs and DVDs. I will also never post my work online or store it in the cloud unless I don't care if it is downloaded (aka stolen) by strangers.
As for the built in Superdrive: they've always been finicky - you can't expect 100% reliability from a super thin laptop style vertically installed drive where the media can shift by 1/100th of an inch. I've had two replaced (no charge thanks to Applecare) even though I rarely use it - but I've had an external FW LaCie burner for years - it is dependable, reads anything, and just works.
Even the much vaunted Blu-Ray which has now been around for a number of years simply isn't taking off !
Agreed. I'd guess that might have something to do with the price. I experimented with Roxio Toast and their bluray plugin and frankly could not tell the difference in quality on my HDTV, so I decided to stay with the much less expensive and easier option of regular DVDs.
For the OP:
I'd recommend buying an external a burner; unless it's USB 3 or FW though, it may be a bit slow.
Will Apple always still have a Single CD/DVD Disc Drive to buy? or someday there will No Longer be a CD/DVD Disc Drive & we will not be able to watch DVD Movies & Play Music CD's on & not be able to make our Own DVD & Music CD?
& other Company's will also Stop Making CD/DVD Disc Drives?
do you think that will happen someday?
My new Mac has no disc drive!
