Yes … You Can Still Get An Apple SuperDrive
Some computer manufacturers have long done away with optical media drives like CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and CD/DVD burners. Why not? Most software is available for electronic download/delivery and can be stored on various alternative media sources like USB flash drives, cloud storage and so forth.
Sure, you may have legacy software that was originally delivered on optical media but the key word here is legacy. Most legacy software won’t run on modern computers and operating systems unless you’re running legacy software on an old operating system in a virtual environment and the likelihood of that for the average consumer is relatively low.
Still, there may be the possibility you still have some important files archived on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM or perhaps old family photos that you had transferred over from negatives and burned onto optical media. Or, you have a bunch of music CDs that you never quite had a chance to convert to digital and incorporate into your music library for your personal enjoyment.
Well, if you’re in that group and happen to use a Mac without an optical media drive, you can certainly still get your hands on an Apple USB SuperDrive. If you’re not on a Mac, your computer manufacturer may sell a comparable external optical media drive or there are still some third-party external optical media drives available. You can probably still find internal optical media drives for desktops if you know where to look.
I did get an Apple USB SuperDrive many years ago just in case it was necessary given that virtually all the computers that I’ve used in recent years don’t have an optical media drive. I think I’ve used the SuperDrive a few times for those one-off situations but practically all my software, music and video content are available via digital download/delivery, so I haven’t really needed the SuperDrive.
That said, I still have plenty of music CDs and video DVDs lying around so having the SuperDrive around is nice so I can always access the content on those CDs/DVDs whenever I want or until current or then current Apple devices no longer support the SuperDrive.
The Apple USB SuperDrive is USB-A so if you have a new Mac with USB-C you’ll need an adapter. It’s supposed to be compatible with all Mac models 2008 or later that don’t have a built-in optical media drive. Pricing hasn’t really changed over the years so Apple is still offering it at $79.00 but if you shop around, you can probably find it for less or on sale. It’ll be interesting to see how much longer the Apple USB SuperDrive sticks around!
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Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter