CDs load, but not DVDs.

My macbook will load + read cds when i put them in the disk drive. However, if I use dvds, it won't. They just spin round for a while, making a variety of funny noises, before the laptop ejects them.

Sometimes it won't load cds. It has loaded DVDs before, and continues to, at rare times.

My macbook is from 2006, and is no longer under warranty.

Is there something I can do to fix it? or would I have to take it into a shop, and have to pay for it to be fixed?

i had a similar problem in reverse. would read dvds and data discs but no cds. luckily it happened within the first year i had it and apple swapped the drive free of charge.

i can't imagine this would be a crushing cost, but i don't believe you'd get apple to swap it for less than a couple hundred bucks.

It's not a cheap fix by Apple. Although mine was done under warranty, the receipt claimed it would have cost $369 with labor - which is patently absurd.

If you are a little bit handy, I'd just DIY. You can get the part and instructions from iFixit: iPod, iBook, & PowerBook Parts and Accessories

I'm in the uk, so $369, would be about £150-£175 pounds right? Thats way too much.

I'm going to get a new laptop around september next year, so that should solve the problem once and for all.

Having a look around the apple support website though, there seem to be lots of people with the same problem. And apple don't seem to have done anything to fix it.


OH and I'm not really a little bit handy.

weeman27bob said:

I'm in the uk, so $369, would be about £150-£175 pounds right? Thats way too much.

I'm going to get a new laptop around september next year, so that should solve the problem once and for all.

Having a look around the apple support website though, there seem to be lots of people with the same problem. And apple don't seem to have done anything to fix it.


OH and I'm not really a little bit handy.

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There are other services as well (not too familiar with what is available in the UK), but Apple doesn't tend to be very competitive price-wise.

The fact of the matter is that optical drives do tend to break down overtime, as will any mechanical device. You'll find the same kinds of complaints about other brands of laptops as well since the miniaturized optical drives simply aren't as robust as the full-sized versions.