Apple SuperDrive: Sold out in the United States, still available in Germany

“Everything you want from an optical drive”: Apple is quite vocal when promoting its external SuperDrive on Apple.com. The company has been offering a combination CD and DVD burner for about 16 years, but at least in the United States it is now over. As can be seen from the Apple online store, the device is Now officially sold out (“sold out”).

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Unchanged since 2008

The hardware was introduced in 2008. At the time, Apple was still selling Macs that had optical drives, but the MacBook Air did not have room for it. That’s why the SuperDrive came to the market as a stand-alone device on which even owners of the most compact portable Macs could play and burn DVDs and CDs. Apparently the demand remained for a long time, in any case, Apple did not remove the device from its offer for more than a decade. At least the price decreased: from US$99 initially to $79, without any technical changes.

Although Blu-rays already existed since the launch of the external SuperDrive, these were never an issue for Apple. Anyone interested in this would still have to get the drive from another provider – including the appropriate software. Of course, you connect the external SuperDrive using a standard USB-A socket, so with today’s Macs you need a dongle, dock or hub. The power supply was never necessary, power always came from the Mac.

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With 8x totally on the ball, somehow

In Europe, external SuperDrives have recently cost a bit more than in the US, where the price is always quoted without local sales tax: Apple wants 89 euros in Germany Watch. Confusingly, the device is not yet sold in this country. You can currently order it for free this Friday (or tomorrow for 3.99 euros) for your home or pick it up from an Apple Store. The weight is 335 grams and the dimensions are “hardly larger than a CD case,” Apple enthuses. The device is compatible with “2008 Mac models that do not have an optical drive installed.”

Incidentally, Apple does not provide any information about the burner speed in its online store. You have to find it out yourself – it is up to a maximum of 8x for DVDs (depending on the format, only 6x) and up to 24x for CDs. The external SuperDrive is commercially available continue doing this – You can also get “Deals” here.

(B.Sc.)