How to burn discs on a MacBook

You can write data to disk using the built-in CD / DVD drive on your MacBook. With this method, it is convenient to save backup copies of important files. Before you begin the process, you need to purchase media, which are popularly called "blanks". These are blank CDs and DVDs on which your information will be placed. You can use both CD-R and DVD-R, as well as CD-RW and DVD-RW. Discs marked R indicate that information can be written to them only once, and discs marked RW are reusable media onto which information can be recorded repeatedly.

Burn a disk on MacBook - easy!

And there are several ways to record discs depending on the type of information you want to put on them: audio, video, photos, etc. These methods are decisive when choosing software that will perform recording. Let us examine this question in more detail.

Burning data disc or ISO image

Let's start with the simplest option: write a regular data disc or ISO file. The first thing that needs to be done is to copy the information that you have planned to transfer to a disk in a separate folder. Where exactly the folder will be and how it will be called is not decisive. You just need to collect all the necessary files in one place.

After that, click on the folder that you got, right-click and select "Burn (folder name) to Disk." If you have not previously inserted a blank disc into the drive, then you will receive a message asking you to do it now.

Before starting the burn, do not forget to insert a blank disc into the drive.

In the next window, you can enter a disc name and select the burning speed. By default, the maximum speed is set, but if you want the process to be performed more carefully, you can reduce it. So, enter the desired name in the Disk Name field and set the appropriate speed (in most cases, you can leave the default value).

Click Burn, then the burning process will start. That's all you need to do to burn a data disc.

The easiest way to capture an ISO image is as follows. Find the desired file through the Finder and click on it once to select this file. Then in the top menu, click File - Burn Disk Image (file name) to Disk. This option is located at the bottom of the menu. If a blank disc is inserted in the drive, recording will begin immediately.

Selecting this item will start the burning procedure.

Burning Audio CD

You can burn a disc with music on MacBook using iTunes. Open this program and add all the desired music to the library. Then you need to create a new playlist containing these compositions. To do this quickly, you can select the desired composition in the library, click on the right mouse button and select New Playlist from Selection.

ATTENTION. If your CD will contain only audio tracks, the total listening time for songs should not exceed 72 minutes. If you plan to cut MP3, then the limit on the total amount of files will be 700 megabytes.

So, your new playlist appeared on the left under the Playlists heading. Click on it once to highlight. Now at the top of the screen, select File - Burn Playlist to Disc. A settings window will appear, where you can specify the configuration of your audio CD. The following options are available:

  • Preferred Speed ​​(the desired speed), the default is set to maximum.
  • Disk Format. Here you can choose an audio CD, MP3 CD or Data CD / DVD. The last option involves recording discs, where in addition to music files are files of other types. All of them will be cut to disk, but some players may not recognize these discs.
  • And also when choosing an audio CD, you can specify the desired time interval between songs (Gap Between Songs). The default value is 2 seconds.
  • Use Sound Check - the option checks that the volume of all tracks is the same.
  • Include CD Text - the name of the song, the name of the artist and other available information will be displayed in the players.

Burn Video DVD

There are no official Apple DVD recording software on MacBook. However, you can use third-party programs for this purpose. One such program is Burn. Download it and install it in the system.

After starting the program, click on the DVD tab. Here you can title your disc and open a drop-down menu to change the format from VCD to DVD-Video. After that, click on the small plus in the bottom left corner to add a video to your project.

ATTENTION. To use this program, your video must be in MPG format. If it is in a different format, you will receive an incompatibility message along with a request to convert the video to the required format. To convert in most cases, just click the Convert button, after which it will happen automatically. If this does not happen, you will have to use another program to change the file format.

By adding all the necessary files, you can set the desired speed, then click on the Burn button to start the recording process. Previously you can enable the Erase disc before burning option, in this case the disc will be cleared of the data before recording.

That's it, creating a disc in the process! If you need more settings, such as installing your own images and menus on your DVD, you can use more advanced programs such as MyDVD and DVDCreator.

Possible problems with writing

When trying to burn a disc, you may see the following error:

Could not be burned because an unexpected error occurred (the recording could not be completed due to an unexpected error).

What can be done in this case:

  • Try to get the disk, replace the disc and start burning it again.
  • Use another type of disc (R, RW).
  • Try writing at a slower speed (1x or 2x).
  • If all else fails, the only solution is to buy and install an external drive for recording discs. Perhaps for this reason, Apple is increasingly refusing to install embedded drives on MacBooks and offers to use external devices.

If you have problems with a regular drive - use a portable

And sometimes there are errors when trying to pull the disk from MacBook. In this case, you can try to reboot the system by holding the right mouse button. After the reboot, try to pull it out in the usual way.

We hope our article has helped you to deal with all the subtleties of recording discs on MacBook. Successful work!