Inside a MacBook Air Superdrive

In order to know what inside the belly of the MacBook Air Superdrive, we decided to open it up. Nothing is easier, all one has to do is to insert a thin blade into the left or right side of the unit and lever it open.

Three screws later one can lift our the CD/DVD drive. Removing the two remaining screws releases the electronic card.


It is an Optiarc AD-5630A identical to that found on many iMacs. It has a thickness of 12.7 mm and there is no obvious difference from a standard unit.

The convertor ATA/USB is very thin and contains only a few components. However it is this that limits the use of this CD/DVD unit to match only the MacBook Air. But be reassured - we are not the only ones looking for a way around this.