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MacBook Air SuperDrive Accessory Needs Above-Spec USB Port

Wednesday January 23, 2008 8:01 am PST by longofest
Users hoping to buy a MacBook Air USB Superdrive accessory for use with another Mac or PC other than the MacBook Air may be disappointed to find out that the accessory requires a MacBook Air to run.

Electronista explains that the requirement is due to the drive's higher power consumption.

While external optical drives have existed that rely on the USB port alone, the particular power demands of the Apple-made drive should prevent it being used elsewhere; the sole USB port has been boosted past its specifications to supply enough power to use the drive with just the data cable rather than a direct power connection, say contacts [familiar with the internal design of the system].


The drive does not include any way to connect it to AC power for use with standard USB ports found on other Macs and PCs. Indeed, Apple has listed the MacBook Air as the only compatible computer for use with the unit.
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Cassie
53 months ago
Wow that sucks.
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Eidorian
53 months ago
It's just as I suspected. It's the same as the iMac Aluminium. Way to to adhere to USB standards Apple.
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edesignuk
53 months ago

It's the same as the iMac Aluminium.

What is? :confused:
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Eidorian
53 months ago

What is? :confused:



High powered ports for devices.
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KindredMAC
53 months ago
At first thought, I was really hoping that Apple made the SuperDrive Air able to be used on all Macs until reality set it.... Why would anyone buy any one else's SuperDrives or a second internal if this worked with any USB 2.0 port?

Mac Pros would not see an additional internal be put in for the $99 price tag. Heck buy the external and use it for all of your Macs! But alas, Apple is much smarter than everyone else and the poor little SuperDrive Air is relegated to only one lover.....
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samh004
53 months ago
But if you connected a powered-hub to your port and then plugged it into that, wouldn't it be able to draw enough power to run and be used, of course it wouldn't be convenient, but would it work ?
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segfaultdotorg
53 months ago
I suspected as much. The USB specification doesn't allow for enough power to supply a DVD burner, thus, to be able to burn DVDs (and not just CDs), they had to do something outside the specification.
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longofest
53 months ago



High powered ports for devices.


That's not at all new. No mac has ever been able to support high-power devices when connected to a non-powered hub, like the keyboard hub.

However, I think I may have made the title misleading. The drive isn't just high-powered... it's ULTRA-high powered. It needs ABOVE specification power requirements over USB. So, even a fully-powered USB port won't due... it would have to exceed power specs.

Scotty... I need more power!

EDIT: changed title to "above-spec" from "high-power"
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TBi
53 months ago
You can buy a cable which plugs into two usb ports and goes to one mini usb for powering external 2.5" harddrives.

I'd guess you could modify/make one of these work work with the drive. Use one USB port just for power and the second for data.
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tothelimit
53 months ago
i imagine there would have to be someone out there with the ingenuity to develop a USB hub that can power it.
i'd give it a month of two before we see a handful of 3rd party manufacturers selling 'above-spec' USB converters - allowing use on all macs.

maybe not - i'm no hardware buff - might be a much more difficult task than it seems.
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