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These days, a disk drive may be more valuable than some may think since DVDs are making a much-needed comeback. They're also a good retro format for media and storage. With a standard DVD being able to hold about 4.7GB in a single-layer, MacBook owners may find owning a drive rather appealing. However, those hoping for a MacBook with a drive built in may find themselves looking for other options.

While there are still laptops you can buy with a CD-DVD drive in 2026, a MacBook certainly isn't going to be one of them. In fact, the last MacBook to come with a DVD drive (or in this case, an optical drive) was the mid-2012 13-inch MacBook Pro. Though the machine may have boasted some impressive stats when it was first released over a decade ago, users may not want to rely on it today as their primary machine.

Not only has it been a while since the brand produced these machines, but Apple also declared the product obsolete. Though it sold an alternative option for those needing an external drive (the superdrive), this was also discontinued. The days of MacBook owners expecting a DVD drive to arrive with their machine have likely long since passed. There are still some options available for those who have an interest in physical media.

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The mid-2012 13-inch MacBook Pro was the last laptop to feature a DVD drive from Apple, and while its specs may have been impressive for its time, its 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of DDR3 memory aren't as impressive in 2026. There was also a 2.9GHz model that came with 8GB of DDR3 memory.

As for the drive itself, this model of MacBook Pro came with an optical 8X SuperDrive, which featured up to 16X reading and writing speeds for CDs and up to 8X speeds for DVDs. By February 2024, Apple considered the mid-2012 MacBook obsolete since it defines obsolescence as a product that it stops distributing for more than seven years. This means the MacBook won't receive hardware service from Apple, and service providers are not able to order parts for it from the company.

Considering this MacBook was first introduced in June 2012 and stopped receiving software updates in 2020 with the arrival of Big Sur, finding one may be more of a novelty rather than something you'll actually use — though turning one into a media center is a clever use for your old MacBook. Unfortunately, even if you want an official external drive, Apple discontinued its version in 2024. However, finding an external CD/DVD drive for Mac on Amazon isn't too difficult, and they can be found on the cheap.