Using nonstandard or irregular sized discs in optical drives

Summary

Learn about the sizes and shape of discs that can be used in the CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, Combo and SuperDrives in various Macintosh computers.

Products Affected

Desktop Computers, MacBook, MacBook Pro, PowerBook, iBook

Drive mechanisms

Many optical media are available in unusual sizes and shapes. Your computer's optical drive mechanism may or may not be able to accept discs of a nonstandard size and shape.

Drive mechanism	Standard discs	Nonstandard discs
Slot loading	Yes	No
Slotted tray	Yes	No
Flat carrier tray	Yes	Yes

Some of the computers that use a slot-loading optical drive mechanism include:

iMac
Mac Mini
MacBook Pro
MacBook
MacBook Air SuperDrive
PowerBook
iBook

Warning: Inserting a nonstandard-sized or -shaped disc into a drive that is not designed to accommodate it may damage the drive. Some slot-loading drives may be able to accommodate 80 mm round discs, but their use is not supported and any damage caused will not be covered under your Apple warranty or applicable extended service contract.

Standard size and shape discs

The 120 mm round discs are the only size and shape that work with either slot loading or tray loading drives.
Warning:These discs must be between 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm in thickness. Discs that are thicker than 1.5 mm or thinner than 1.2 mm are not supported and any damage caused will not be covered under your Apple warranty or applicable extended service contract.

Nonstandard size and shape discs

Discs of the following sizes and shapes work ONLY with drives that have a flat carrier tray such as certain Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) computers. The discs do NOT work with slot loading drives.