Blu-ray support destined for Mac OS X 10.5.6?
This isn't even a question of if -- it's simply when. The inevitable announcement that OS X will openly support Blu-ray is only a matter of months / years / eons away, but the latest whispers are placing BD compatibility in the very next version of OS X. Shortly after 10.5.5 hit the tubes, rumors began heating up that the next minor point release (10.5.6) would feature BD support. Granted, this is purely speculative at this point, but we'd say it makes sense. And if Apple doesn't have Blu-ray support planned for 10.5.6, um, can we get a few developers on that ASAP?[Thanks, A1]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dj496 @ Sep 22nd 2008 8:49AM
hurry up.
Galley @ Sep 22nd 2008 9:06AM
I broke down and bought a used PS3 the other day. I would've preferred a $200 BD SUperDrive to connect to my 24" iMac.
mediasmag @ Sep 22nd 2008 9:49AM
It doesn't make sense that Apple will hurry up for support of BD, their strategy is all about download with iTunes and Apple TV. If I were you I wouldn't expect much from Apple regarding Blu-ray.
Eric @ Sep 22nd 2008 10:36AM
So, the fact that FinalCut Pro has supported Blu-ray for some time isn't a clue?
There are plenty of uses for Blu-ray besides playing movies. Massive storage. Blu-ray burners in DVRs in Japan are as common and can be. There are new Blu-ray burners out for under $300. So I suspect it could be true.
Though I'd MUCH rather Apple get to ZFS support first. But waiting for 10.6 isn't going to be all that long, so whatever. 10.5.5 is the best version of OS X to date. It's finally as stable as previous versions got.
EatingPie @ Sep 22nd 2008 3:47PM
OR the fact that Apple has been a member of the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) for 3 years.
I do actually believe iTunes is the hold up. Hasn't Jobs decreed iTunes the wave of the video future? One thing is for sure, AppleTV is NOT selling like hotcakes, even after touting revision 2.0 -- stupidest revision ever (stuck at 720p while 1080p is now the defacto standard) -- and announcing actual HD video.
Okay enough complaining. My point is that HD video is one of Jobs' duds, at least his way of implementing it. Being a member of the BDA, and Blu-ray being the new optical standard, Apple *needs* to support it. Burnable 50GB data discs are great. And people want to *own* their copies of the movies, which downloads make insanely difficult. I think iTunes works fine for rental, but not as a paradigm for owning, and I hope that Jobs finally realizes that.
-Pie
why not the LS2LS7? @ Sep 22nd 2008 10:09AM
I asked a friend at Apple and he said that since 10.5.4, X has supported reading and writing BluRay data discs. It cannot play movies right now. And it's rather unlikely 10.5.6 can add it, since virtually all Macs use digital video out (DVI) but do not have HDCP. You cannot output BluRay movies over DVI without HDCP.
squiggleslash @ Sep 22nd 2008 11:10AM
Yeah, that was my first thought. Any media controlled by AACS (Blu-ray, BD9, HD DVD, 3XDVD, etc) needs a "secure path" so once the data has the AACS encryption removed it's not passed anywhere outside of that module (ie Blu-ray player application) without some other form of approved encryption such as HDCP. So far as I'm aware, Mac OS X doesn't have the secure path thing implemented. Many of the major problems with Vista have to do with Microsoft's attempts to make secure path work in it.
There is one loophole, but I doubt it'll please anyone: the majority of AACS-controlled discs allow for the data to be down-converted to 960x540 (ie one quarter of 1080p) before being sent on an unsecure, non-encrypted, link. So in theory, a Mac Blu-ray player could do that, but I suspect it'll upset quite a few people if they did, and it wouldn't necessarily work on every Blu-ray movie, as Hollywood has the option to have non-secure path output blocked completely.
It's an interesting rumour, and I'll be interested to see what develops, whether 10.5.6 is a far greater overhaul of the operating system than the point-release number would suggest, whether they'll compromise with 960x540 output, or whether it's another bogus Mac rumor.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Sep 22nd 2008 1:41PM
The 960x540 thing is from the Image Constraint Token, and if set only allows 960x540 on analog. I don't know if you are ever allowed to output more than 480p over digital without HDCP.
fd @ Sep 22nd 2008 11:16AM
HDCP is long overdue on Macs.
I have been waiting to upgrade for over a year; and will do so till Apple decides to release new displays that are HDCP compatible and announces some new machines to go along with it. By which I mean a pro rig with out-of-the-box HDCP support, not where you plunk down $5000 and then face additional costs months later to upgrade to a new optical drive and graphics card ... and then will come to find out you need a HDCP authorization chip on your motherboard if you want to play HD discs on your computer.
mikeb12345 @ Sep 22nd 2008 11:27AM
There have been rumors that the new MacBook/MacBook Pro laptops (scheduled for October announcement) will have BluRay as options. There were also rumors of HDMI being added to these machines. Both of these make the HDCP BS go away. And also add to the 10.5.6 as having BluRay support.
burndive @ Sep 22nd 2008 1:48PM
Do you have to pay for minor point releases? Because if you don't then this is simply out of the question.
There's absolutely no way that Apple would pay to license every copy of their OS to play Blu-ray movies (since Blu-ray has a license fee for every player device).
My guess is that support will come first on a new version of the OS--one that you have to buy, and that it will also require you to buy a new computer. It will probably roll out first to computers with integrated displays.
fd @ Sep 22nd 2008 1:58PM
I hope those rumors are true, though it is always a wait & see situation ... and there is Apple hardware that needs an update more urgently than the MB & MBP do. The Mac mini hasn't been updated in over a year. The LCDs haven't been updated, in what, 2 years now?
mikeb12345 @ Sep 22nd 2008 2:59PM
You don't pay for updates, but is this license fee for the hardware or software? If my current MBP which doesn't have a BluRay drive gets the software update which allows me to use an external BluRay drive, wouldn't the fee be paid on the hardware?
Its also possible that the update will only get installed onto (still non-existant) machines that have the hardware already there. Apple updates are sometimes hardware specific.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Sep 22nd 2008 9:00PM
In the past, Apple has restricted playback (like of DVDs) to only drives that came with Macs. Thus they pay the decoder fee per DVD drive they sell (in Macs) instead of per copy of Mac OS X sold.
BluRay playback would likely go the same way.
Brian Kaempen @ Sep 23rd 2008 12:59AM
First let me say BD support is NOT in Final Cut, I have 6.0.5 and know it's not there. DVD Studio Pro can author HD on regular DVDs, so obviosuly you're limited to a small file. Secondly, I read a report where someone Boot Camped into Vista and plugged in an external drive and used the appropriate Windows software to watch a BD movie on the MacBook Pro's built-in display. Back in OS X, DVD Player launched, but then quit with an error, so some suggest that all it would be is a software update for the DVD Player app. Apple will start with BD drives in the Mac Pros ONLY. There aren't >1" thick slot-load drives to put in their laptops, the technology simply isn't there, hence why the laptops won't get them for a while. Their external displays haven't been upgraded in 3+ years, so an update with HDCP would be nice. Lastly, for the most part, BD burning is a professional feature, which has nothing to do with iTunes. They're separate divisions of Apple. I don't think it will come now or with 10.5.6, but IF it did, it would coincide with a Mac Pro revision. When it doesn't come this year, look towards NAB '09 along side Final Cut Studio 3 and DVD Studio Pro 5.
-Brian
macserv @ Sep 24th 2008 7:02PM
Agreed. DVD Studio Pro needs full BD authoring support, and Final Cut Pro needs native AVCHD editing capability.
While I'm not a fan of the Sony Vegas suite, it's definitely not bad, and lets me do both of those things pretty easily.
Dave @ Oct 2nd 2008 12:01AM
Hey apple, I shelled out for a macbook pro and a big monitor, I can't afford an HDTV but I want to watch HD. I pay for movies on itunes, but I cant get hi-def. I have no options beside paying for an HDTV and apple TV, I will not do this. Give me a break. Why would you exile your loyal mac customers like this?