At this point, we just have to accept the fact that Blu-ray drives won’t be built into Macs; in fact, all optical drives are being phased out of Apple’s computers at this point. But if you have an older iMac or Mac mini, and want to be able to play Blu-ray discs, MCE Technologies is about to offer a new solution. The Internal Blu-ray Player/SuperDrive ($80) is the first internal player we’ve come across for the iMac or Mac mini. If you’re willing to split your machine apart to do the transplant, this solution might be right for you.
With this drive, you can read and burn CDs or DVDs, just like with a standard SuperDrive. Added to that is the ability to watch—but not burn—Blu-ray discs. Software is included to do so, since OS X doesn’t have any pre-installed. There’s obvious appeal for this drive in a TV-tethered Mac mini that’s being used as a media hub, but iMac users may like it, too.