Optical drive

An optical drive is a data storage system that uses a to read from  (and write to) removable optical media discs.

Usage by Apple
Apple has used the following optical storage types in its product lines:


 * CD-ROM drives were introduced as a built-in option with the Macintosh IIvx in October 1992.
 * DVD-ROM drives were introduced as a built-in option in the "Beige" Power Macintosh G3 in November 1997. Apple marketed DVD-ROM drives that could "burn" recordable media as "combo drives". DVD-ROM drives that could also record  media were marketed under Apple's "SuperDrive" brand.

Apple has never offered an internal option in any of its Macintosh models, though 3rd-party solutions existed for the 1st-generation Mac Pro. Apple has migrated away from mechanical storage media with moving parts in favor of solid-state drives.