Play and burn your favorite Blu-rays with these great Blu-ray drives for Mac! {.intro]
Blu-ray discs are the gold standard in physical movie formats right now. You probably have a decent Blu-ray collection of your favorite movies, but without a Blu-ray drive, you can't play them on your Mac. Blu-rays aren't just great for movies; they also make great storage devices for backups or other important data as well.
If you want to play, read, or write Blu-ray discs with your Mac, you're going to need to start off with an excellent Blu-ray drive. Here are our favorite Blu-ray drives for Mac.
ASUS 12X Blu-ray drive
If you want a Blu-ray drive with lots of power and speed but don't mind losing a little desk space, the ASUS 12X Blu-ray drive is perfect.
The ASUS 12X Blu-ray drive has a 12X burning speed, which is among the fastest of the optical drives out there. Plus, by using a USB 3.0 connection, the ASUS 12x Blu-ray drive can also write data much faster than other drives that still use USB 2.0.
The drive is formatted both for Mac and Windows, so you don't have to worry about reformatting the drive if you want to switch back and forth between operating systems.
You can pick up the ASUS 12X Blu-ray drive from Amazon for around $90.
LG BE14NU40
The LG BE14NU40 is another big and bulky drive that has incredible speed; however, it does take a chunk out of your spending money (around $156).
Faster than the ASUS, the LG BE14NU40 has 14x read and write speeds, meaning you'll be flying through creating those backups. Plus, The Wirecutter put those speeds to the test.
"Out of the five Blu-ray drives we tested for this update, the LG BE14NU40 was the fastest at burning and ripping Blu-rays. The drive took just 29 minutes to rip a Blu-ray movie, and 23 minutes to burn it to a blank disc."
There are a few downsides to the LG BE14NU40. For starters, it doesn't come pre-formatted for Mac, so you'll have to format it yourself. Also, the drive is quite loud. It shouldn't drown out the movie you're watching, but it will be noticeable!
SEA TECH Blu-ray drive
SEA TECH's Blu-ray drive is a no fuss solution to your Mac Blu-ray drive needs.
Completely compatible with Mac, you won't need to reformat or install anything to get the SEA TECH Blu-ray drive to talk to your Mac. Plus, it uses a USB 3.0 connection, meaning all you data transferring is happening at the fast speed of USB 3.0!
Starting at around $94, the SEA TECH Blu-ray drive's brushed aluminum finish looks stunning and matches the aesthetic of any Mac perfectly.
MthsTec Blu-ray drive
If you're looking for some that won't break the bank, the MthsTec Blu-ray drive offers up a lot of features for less money.
Starting at around $70, the MthsTec Blu-ray drive will connect to your Mac with a USB 3.0 connection and has an overall write speed of 6x for Blu-rays and 8x speed for DVDs.
Measuring about 5.7 inches by 5.9 inches by 0.7 inches means the MthsTec Blu-ray drive won't take up a lot of room. Perfect for small desks or other compact spaces.
Which Blu-ray drive do you use?
Let us know in the comments below!
Reader comments
Best Blu-ray Drives for Mac
Blu-ray sucks on the Mac because the player apps are few, lousy, and really do not inspire confidence. Can you recommend a player app from the Mac App Store? One that isn't horrible, or broken, or sketchy and malware like?
The big issue with blu ray is playback software for commercial blu ray movies. This article provides no help on the movie playback software side.
Macgo Blu-Ray Player Pro works plays commercial blu-ray movies. The old non-Pro version was terrible, but the newer Pro version is stable and does menus and special features, not just the movie. I haven't found an issue with it.