Apple Makes MacBook Optical Drives Obsolete

Big news for old Mac owners has just come through, with Apple announcing a drop in support for the remaining MacBooks offering optical drives. The last of these, the 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro, is still in the hands of many users. So, what does this mean for those of us who still use these older systems? We turn back the clock to explore why these drives are no longer used and, more importantly, what a broken optical drive might mean for you.

What Happens If Your Optical Drive Breaks?

This is the big question, and it’s one with an unexpectedly simple answer: Apple won’t fix it. Officially, Apple had discontinued stocking the replacement parts for optical drives, so once one dies, you can no longer run to the Apple store for a fix. However, this isn’t true for all parts of the optical drive MacBooks. The last of these sold seven years ago, and while optical drives will no longer be repaired, battery replacements and fixes are still available for ten years after purchase.

“White 13” Apple Macbook 2.4 GHz, 10/31/0” (CC BY 2.0) by goodrob13

You have two options to repair the functionality of a broken optical drive. Firstly, you could go to an unauthorized third-party repair shop and hope they have what you need. The other option would be to purchase an external optical drive that can be plugged in via USB.

Why the Change?

Dropping support for optical drives is a matter of obsolescence – evolution simply leaves some hardware and software behind. Sometimes, these elements evolve and persist; other times, they fade away.

For a highly competitive industry to stay relevant, we could look at the software available at online casinos. Both the websites abounding with the latest casino reviews, and the games featured at these casinos, have undergone significant redesigns over time. While offers like deposit matches and free spins are much the same, the HTML backing them has expanded significantly. The games have also moved from Flash to HTML5, keeping up with the latest trends and offering improved support on mobile platforms.

The issue with MacBooks is that its hardware, like optical drives, can’t stay relevant with software updates like online casinos can. Along with CDs, DVDs followed suit and eventually became obsolete. While Blu-ray is still used, their capacity as transferable and writeable media has been utterly usurped by much faster and smaller flash drive technology. Simply put, we don’t need optical drives anymore.

What Happens Next?

Sadly, the age of the optical drive, being a standard part of the computing experience, is behind us. We’re now in an era where older platforms and legacy computer systems might still use optical media, although these are slowly fading away. Like Japan, which is only now fading out floppy disk requirements, CDs and DVDs are going the way of the digital dodo.

“CDs or DVDs” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by mlange_b

For those of us with wallets full of optical media, this means we’ll have to tackle the painful and tedious process of backing up all our old files on new systems. It won’t be fun, but like holding onto old VHS memories, it’s a task we should approach proactively. On the positive side, old CDs still make great frisbees!