Updated October 2026. Quick answer: the Apple USB SuperDrive (model A1379) still works with Apple silicon Macs – first-hand reports cover M1 through M4 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini. Plug it straight into the Mac with a USB-C to USB-A adapter, not through a hub. It reads and burns CDs and DVDs, but not Blu-ray. Apple stopped selling it in August 2024, so today you will be buying used.
Apple stopped selling the USB SuperDrive in August 2024, after sixteen years. The product page is gone – apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A now returns “Page Not Found.”
What Apple left behind is one support document about how to plug it in. It contains no speeds, no dimensions, no weight, and no mention of Apple Silicon, and most search results for the drive are forum threads and retailer listings. So we put the full spec table together.
Specifications
| Model | A1379 (predecessor: A1270, “MacBook Air SuperDrive”, 2008) |
| Part numbers | MD564ZM/A, MD564LL/A (US), MC684ZM/A |
| Interface | USB 2.0, captive (non-detachable) USB-A cable |
| CD read / write / rewrite | 24x / 24x / 16x † |
| DVD read / write | 8x / 8x |
| DVD±R DL write | 6x |
| DVD+RW / DVD-RW rewrite | 8x / 6x |
| Writes | CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW |
| Also reads | CD-ROM, DVD-ROM |
| Does not support | Blu-ray. 8cm / mini discs (they jam) |
| Dimensions | 17 × 139 × 139 mm (0.67 × 5.47 × 5.47 in) |
| Weight | 320 g original revision; 335 g Rev A |
| Loading | Slot-loading, aluminium enclosure |
| Last retail price | $79 |
† Sources disagree on CD-RW rewrite speed: two give 16x, one distributor datasheet gives 24x. We publish 16x and flag the discrepancy rather than pretend it is settled.
Deliberately omitted: cable length and FCC ID. No source we could find states either, and a plausible-looking number is worse than a blank.
Power draw is often quoted as 500 mA. That figure comes from a single source and is contradicted in spirit by Wikipedia’s note that the drive “may exceed the normal power draw of the USB 2.0 specification” – which is exactly why it fails on hubs. We are not printing a single number for it.
Does it work on Apple Silicon? Yes.
Apple has never published a document listing M-series Macs. Verified first-hand reports cover M1 MacBook Air, M1 MacBook Pro, M1 Mac mini, M2 MacBook Air, M2 MacBook Pro, M3 MacBook Air, M4 MacBook Air and M4 Pro MacBook Pro. It works.
M5 Macs: Apple’s compatibility statement covers every Mac from 2008 on without a built-in optical drive, which includes M5 models, and nothing we found suggests a problem. We have not yet seen a first-hand report from an M5 owner, so connect it directly to the Mac and update to macOS 26.2 or later.
On the “restriction” everyone asks about. Apple’s support document still says, in a revision dated March 2025:
“The Apple USB SuperDrive is compatible with Mac computers introduced in 2008 or later that don’t have a built-in optical drive.”
You will read that Apple removed this restriction. Apple did not. The restriction is still in the current documentation – it simply stopped mattering, because no Mac Apple has shipped in a decade has an internal optical drive, so every modern Mac satisfies the condition automatically. It became moot, not rescinded. There is no Apple statement announcing a change, and anyone who tells you otherwise is describing something that did not happen.
(The historical workaround, for a Mac that does have an internal drive: the mbasd=1 boot flag. It only applies to 2012-or-earlier hardware, which cannot run a current macOS. On Apple Silicon it is both unnecessary and impractical, and we found no source testing it there.)
The USB-C adapter question
Apple names three: the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, the USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter, and the USB-C to USB Adapter.
Apple’s own document then adds the line that actually solves most problems: if the drive doesn’t respond through an external display or hub, connect it directly to the Mac.
This is the single most common real-world failure. Hub reports are consistent and recent – an Anker powered hub failing in August 2025, a macOS 26 case where the drive appeared in System Information but would not accept a disc. Powered hubs are not reliably sufficient. A plain USB-A-to-USB-C dongle usually is.
The Apple Silicon quirk nobody documents
On Apple Silicon the drive enumerates as a “Generic Drive” in System Information. On Intel Macs it identified as “Apple Shipping Drive” with full manufacturer detail.
If you only play discs, this is trivia. If you rip audio CDs, it is not: dBpoweramp and X Lossless Decoder use that identification to auto-detect the drive’s C2 error correction, read offset and CDTEXT support. On Apple Silicon they can’t, so accurate-rip configuration has to be done by hand.
The macOS Tahoe playback bug – and its fix
If your DVD playback looks subtly wrong, this is why, and it is not on any other page about this product.
On macOS Tahoe 26 and 26.0.1, DVD playback through the SuperDrive had a frame-rate defect. One user’s description: “audio synched fine to people’s speaking, but people’s movement and actions were slightly slower.” Reported on M3 MacBook Air in September 2025, confirmed on M2 and M4 MacBook Air in October. Apple Support attributed it to architectural changes in Tahoe affecting playback frame rate.
Apple fixed it in macOS Tahoe 26.2, confirmed by users in December 2025, with minor residual delays at scene changes.
So: if DVD playback stutters, update to macOS 26.2 or later. (Separately, DVD Player still exists on macOS 26 – it is just harder to find.)
Repairability: check which one you have
A genuine hardware difference between the two generations, from iFixit’s repair guide:
- Pre-2012 (A1270): the mechanism is a standard slimline optical drive with a 50-pin PATA connector. A commodity part you can swap.
- 2012 and later: the USB cable is soldered directly to the board. Replacing the mechanism needs a soldering iron.
If yours is dead and you were considering a repair, that distinction decides whether it is a ten-minute job or a soldering project.
What it costs now
Live eBay listings, September 2026:
| Condition | Price |
|---|---|
| Used, tested working | $18 – $50, clustering at $24 – $35 |
| Open box | $45 – $65 |
| Sealed, new old stock | $75 – $150 |
| A1270 (older model) | ~$20 – $25 |
A working A1379 is realistically $25 – $40 shipped. Be aware that these are asking prices – eBay’s sold-listings filter was not reachable when we checked.
Windows and iPad
Windows: works, but not plug-and-play. You need Apple’s Boot Camp Support Software (5.1.5722 or newer), extracted, running AppleODDInstaller64.exe from within Windows. Confirmed on Windows 7, 8 and 10. Windows 11 is likely but we found no clean confirmation, so we are not claiming it.
iPad: no, and not for the reason usually given. It is not a power problem that a powered hub could solve. iPadOS contains no optical device drivers at all. No iOS or iPadOS device has ever supported this class of drive.
Our hands-on review
We first reviewed the SuperDrive when it launched alongside the 2012 Retina MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. The notes below come from that testing and still hold up.
Design and build
At 17 mm thick and about a third of a kilogram, it is one of the slimmest optical drives made. Thin external drives can scrape the disc if you move them mid-read – the Samsung SE-208 was known for it – but we never had that problem with the SuperDrive. Keep it on a flat surface rather than half off your lap and it runs almost silently after the initial spin-up.
Speeds in practice
It burns CD-R at up to 24x and DVD±R at 8x (6x for dual-layer). In day-to-day use, the difference between 16x and 24x CD writing is hard to notice – the disc brand matters more than the drive.
Cable and power
The USB cable is built in, so there is nothing to lose, and the drive runs on bus power with no adapter, even when a MacBook is on battery. The cable is on the short side, which was our one design complaint. That bus power is also why it struggles on hubs today (see the adapter section above).
Verdict
For anyone who still needs to play, rip or burn the occasional CD or DVD, the SuperDrive remains the neatest plug-and-play option for a Mac – quiet, slim, and a match for the hardware. Now that it is discontinued, a tested used unit at $25 to $40 is good value. If you need Blu-ray, look at a third-party external Blu-ray drive instead.
Apple USB SuperDrive: frequently asked questions
Does the Apple USB SuperDrive work on Apple Silicon Macs?
Yes. First-hand reports cover M1 through M4 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini. Apple's support page still says the drive is for Macs without a built-in optical drive, which every modern Mac satisfies. Connect it straight to the Mac, not through a hub.
Does the Apple USB SuperDrive work with M5 Macs?
It should. Apple says the drive is compatible with any Mac from 2008 or later without a built-in optical drive, which includes M5 models, and we found no reports of problems. We have not yet seen a first-hand M5 report, so connect it directly to the Mac rather than through a hub and run macOS 26.2 or later.
Why won't my SuperDrive work through a USB hub?
The drive can draw more power than the USB 2.0 specification allows, so hubs and display ports often fail to run it. Apple's own advice is to connect the SuperDrive directly to a USB port on your Mac. A plain USB-A to USB-C adapter usually works; even powered hubs often don't.
Which USB-C adapter do I need?
Apple names three: the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, the USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter and the USB-C to USB Adapter. A simple USB-C to USB-A adapter is the cheapest route.
Why does DVD playback look wrong on macOS Tahoe?
macOS Tahoe 26 and 26.0.1 had a frame-rate defect: audio stayed in sync but movement looked slightly slow. Apple fixed it in macOS Tahoe 26.2, so update if you see it.
Does the SuperDrive read or write Blu-ray discs?
No. It handles CDs and DVDs only, and 8cm mini discs can jam in the slot-loading mechanism.
What is a used Apple USB SuperDrive worth?
Working units were listed at roughly $18 to $50 in September 2026, clustering around $25 to $40 shipped. Sealed stock asks $75 to $150. The original $79 retail price has not applied since Apple stopped selling it in August 2024.
Sources
Apple
Third-party
- iFixit: Apple USB SuperDrive optical drive replacement
- TheAppleWiki: Apple USB SuperDrive
- Wikipedia: SuperDrive
- Macworld, August 2024: Apple stops selling the SuperDrive
- 9to5Mac, 5 Aug 2024: SuperDrive discontinued
- Apple Community: SuperDrive playback issues with Tahoe
- Apple Community: SuperDrive on Apple Silicon
- OSXDaily: making a SuperDrive work on an unsupported Mac
Prices from live eBay listings checked on 17 September 2026. Apple’s own product page for MD564LL/A returns a 404.
