Can Mac play blu-ray through USB 2.0? - CNET Mac peripherals Forums

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Can Mac play blu-ray through USB 2.0?

by markw10 - 6/13/12 1:51 PM

I had an external DVD/CD drive and it just went bad so I'm going to replace it. I am looking at one option such as Apple's external USB drive. It's $79 but I've seen it as low as $50 on eBay and Amazon. I am thinking of getting that one but then I came across this other drive by OWC:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MRSSBD6X/

What I like is it also both reads and writes CD's and DVD's. It's super small and sleek which is important to me since I plan to use this drive a lot when traveling. Another plus is it doesn't have a separate power cable and gets all power through the computer. What I like also it is reads blu-ray. I don't need a blu-ray writers since I have one in my Mac Pro.

I have a few questions:

-It says in some situations it may require a power cable. Would it need this for playing blu-ray?

-It is only USB 2.0 and now USB 3.0 is coming to Macs and there is also firewire and especially thunderbolt. Would USB 2.0 be able to easily handle playing blu-ray?

-I realize that both Windows and Mac out of the box don't play blu-ray. Is there software available for the Mac that would easily be able to play a blu-ray? I don't know if copy protection is an issue but if it's not able to play protected BD's could it play unprotected BD's?

-Are there other options other than this drive I should look at?

I like Apple's drive but really like the option of Blu-Ray. With retina macs coming out now this would be nice. I am glad to see the latest MBP added USB 3.0. I want retina though and won't get the upper end MBP but I'm hoping after a year or two more product refreshes that retina makes it's way to the rest of the MBP line and i'll try to hold off purchasing until then.