RIP Rip & Burn as Apple kills SuperDrive

The end of an era…

Apple quietly ended another era as it silently abandoned sales of its SuperDrive CD/DVD burning device. The $79 device is no longer available at the Apple Store online, though some stock remains available across the channel.

RIP SuperDrive

In a sense it isn’t a surprise.

Even six years ago the future of the thing looked bleak as when Apple upgraded all its other apps to 64-bit it left the DVD Player stranded at 32-bit, only later giving it a brief reprieve.

The first SuperDrive emerged in 2001 when Apple launched an iMac with the slogan “Rip, mix, burn.” This had a CD-RW drive inside and later became the CD/DVD drive called SuperDrive.

It was a big success.

In 2002, Apple said it had already sold half a million Macs with SuperDrives inside.

“Apple is leading the desktop DVD revolution,” said Greg Joswiak, now SVP worldwide marketing and then Apple’s senior director Hardware Product Marketing.

“SuperDrives are now in iMacs, Apple’s recordable DVD media is now priced under $5 per disc, and our iDVD software makes it easy for anyone to create their own DVDs,” he said.

Why it mattered then

The capacity to create DVDs was a big deal 20 years ago.

Apple’s Macs were way more capable of this than Windows machines, and the ability to use Apple’s computers to make movies on consumer kit was a wonder at that time.

Video was a definite inflection point that the company used in order to prove platform superiority. There has been a long battle since then, but it’s a status the company still enjoys today – and a lot more Macs are sold today than at that time.

Things change, of course.

Why it doesn’t matter now

As bandwidth increases and digital supplants physical media, the market for recordable optical disks has fallen significantly. With that in mind, Apple probably felt that this part of the market was better served by third parties than by itself.

The external SuperDrive meant Apple could cut a few dollars off Mac manufacturing costs while offering support for DVDs and CDs to those who needed them. It was hardly a key market for Apple – the SuperDrive you could buy until recently required a USB-A to USB-C adapter. Apple began phasing out optical drives in Macs in 2008.

Out of time

The marketing messages around the SuperDrive on the Apple website also seem a little anachronistic. “Whether you’re at the office or on the road, you can play and burn both CDs and DVDs with the Apple USB SuperDrive. It’s perfect when you want to watch a DVD, install software, create backup discs and more.”

But who does that anymore? How much software is sold on disc today?

Apple continues: “Only slightly bigger than a CD case,” (if anyone still uses CDs), “the Apple USB SuperDrive slips easily into your travel bag when you hit the road, and takes up little space on your desk or tray table when you’re working.”

What you can use instead

There will be times you need something to do this job. For that, you can try the ASUS ZenDrive or NOLYTH External drives, both of which are less than half the price Apple charged for its now near extinct SuperDrive.

Rip, mix, burn has truly become streamed. And post Napster the labels stayed rich while artists still get burned.

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