Upgrading the Optical Drive of a Mac Pro: A Personal Experience

As I sat down to upgrade the optical drive of my trusty Mac Pro, I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia wash over me. It's been three years since I last touched this machine, and I was excited to see if it still had it in it. The past few months had seen some significant upgrades, including a new SSD and graphics card, but the optical drive had been a constant source of frustration.

The problem with the optical drive had become apparent when I tried to remove the front bezel to access it. I didn't think the other side had a similar design, so I was hesitant to proceed. It wasn't until I looked up some videos on YouTube that I realized I needed to pry off the door to access the drive. The good news is that with a little patience and the right tools, I was able to remove the bezel and get started.

The process of removing the front bezel was more involved than I expected. I had to use a tiny screwdriver to pry it off, which was no easy task. However, the end result was worth it - once the bezel was removed, I could see the optical drive in all its glory. The drive itself was a bit of an afterthought, but I knew that with the right tool and a bit of know-how, I could get it working again.

One of the biggest surprises during this upgrade was how easy it actually was. Despite my fears about breaking something, the process was relatively straightforward. I used a paperclip to pop out the little disc drive door, which was a clever trick that I won't forget anytime soon. The rest of the process was simply a matter of swapping out the old drive for the new one.

As I plugged in the new optical drive and waited for it to boot up, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. This was it - my Mac Pro was finally going to have an upgrade that would make it relevant in the modern era. And when the machine powered on, I knew that all my hard work had paid off.

The first thing I did was insert a DVD into the new optical drive and see if it worked. To my delight, it played like a charm. The boot process was smooth, and the disc loaded quickly and easily. It was clear that this upgrade had been worth it - the old optical drive had been a constant source of frustration over the years.

As I looked at my Mac Pro in all its glory, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. This machine had been with me for so many years, and it still had so much to give. From SSD upgrades to graphics card swaps, this Mac Pro had seen it all - and now it was getting an optical drive upgrade.

I have to admit that upgrading the optical drive wasn't the most complicated process in the world. With a bit of patience and the right tools, anyone could do it. And when you consider the cost of the new drive - just $32 plus shipping - it's hard not to feel good about yourself for pulling off this upgrade.

For those who are interested in upgrading their own Mac Pro, I have to say that it's a relatively straightforward process. The only real challenge is removing the front bezel, which can be a bit tricky. However, with the right tools and a bit of know-how, you should be able to get it done without any problems.

One thing that did strike me during this upgrade was how easy it was. Despite my fears about breaking something, the process was relatively straightforward. I think this is because I was coming from a place of familiarity - I had upgraded my Mac Pro before, and I knew what to expect. However, for those who are new to upgrading their own machine, I would recommend taking your time and doing some research beforehand.

In conclusion, upgrading the optical drive of a Mac Pro was a personal experience that I will never forget. It required patience, know-how, and a bit of luck - but in the end, it was worth it. With this upgrade, my Mac Pro is now ready for the modern era, and I couldn't be happier.

If you're interested in upgrading your own optical drive or learning more about this process, I have some recommendations that might be helpful. First and foremost, I would recommend checking out OWC - they were a great source of information and advice during my upgrade. They also happen to sell SSDs and other upgrades for Mac Pros, which is worth considering if you're looking to take your machine to the next level.

For those who are interested in learning more about SSD upgrades or other Mac Pro upgrades, I have a playlist that covers all sorts of topics. From hard drive swaps to graphics card upgrades, this playlist has something for everyone. And as always, be sure to subscribe to my channel for updates on future video content - I promise you won't regret it.

In the end, upgrading the optical drive of my Mac Pro was a personal experience that I will never forget. It required patience, know-how, and a bit of luck - but in the end, it was worth it. With this upgrade, my Mac Pro is now ready for the modern era, and I couldn't be happier.

As I sit here looking at my upgraded Mac Pro, I am filled with a sense of pride and satisfaction. This machine has been with me through thick and thin, and now it's better than ever. From SSD upgrades to graphics card swaps, this Mac Pro has seen it all - and now it's getting an optical drive upgrade that will make it relevant in the modern era.

Upgrading the optical drive of a Mac Pro is no easy task, but with the right tools and know-how, anyone can do it. It requires patience, persistence, and a bit of luck - but in the end, it's worth it. Whether you're upgrading your own machine or just learning more about this process, I hope that my experience has been informative and helpful.

As I look to the future, I am excited to see what other upgrades this Mac Pro will get. From SSDs to graphics cards, this machine is ready for anything - and with an optical drive upgrade under its belt, it's never been more relevant.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys where David DeFranco here from DeFranco hosting.com with my last Mac Pro upgrade video ever in this room SL house because I am indeed moving into my own place starting tonight I'm not going to be sleeping there tonight I won't be officially moved in until Sunday I think because I have a lot of stuff to move but tonight is the initial move when I start moving little things but the point of this blurb I'm trying to get out right now is the Mac Pro is a very L thing I'm moving on Sunday because it kind of runs my life and I need it for my job and my work and I just need it but before it goes I am upgrading the optical drive I did indeed buy an affordable one a cheap one whatever you want to say uh from otherw world computing otherwise known as macsales.com check them out they have awesome accessories for the Mac I just say awesome accessories because it's really no secret Macs aren't really standard in terms of Hardware upgrades but macsales.com is great because they always have a full list of compatibility with Hardware which shows which works with what sorry text messages distractions okay without further Ado let's get onto to it um on onto the upgrade yes I did indeed find myself an optical drive oh I should explain why well this one's dead it's been well not completely dead I can rip and read I just can't burn for some reason it's been like that for over a year and I have been using my Dad's Mac Mini for a while now uh and because I'm moving out I'm finally forced to get my own drive again because I'm obviously not going to drive here every time I need to write DVDs for a project that would not be convenient for me or my clients so with that said let's get on to the bubble wrap my God they really taped this thing up I could probably Chuck this thing out the window and it would it would be fine look how thick that is let's just rip into it this is not exaggeration guys it's a lot of work for an optical drive I didn't see that coming you get it Optical see eye vision anyway also included with the drive is well not only this desk but this one this was in the box I highly doubt I need it oh by the way this is light scribe and a catalog which I doubt I'll use okay so getting on to the process this is my Mac Pro let's just open it take the door off jeez dust just comes flowing out oh side notes a lot of people have been asking me if I'm buying the new Mac Pro when it comes out cu rumors are very strong that it'll be out next week no unless somebody wants to lend me a couple Grand or sponsor one I'm not going to have one anytime soon with this house and all these expenses which sucks cuz I really really do need an upgrade this thing is showing a Ag and I can't install Mountain line but eventually I will upgrade hopefully um I'm just kind of hoping the prices are a little lower because as you know the Mac Pro is not cheap at all that's the only major downside but my God look at this dust watch ready a now there's dust all over my desk that's okay I I look I'm sitting for once start my upgrade this is actually really nice usually I'm standing okay opening the optical drive by the way I've never ever upgraded an optical drive on my Mac Pro before before so this is a first for me I believe I upgraded the one on the Mac my IM actually 3 didn't I no that one's already slot loading did I upgrade it I don't think I did okay you get nero9 Essentials smells good seriously it does and here it is I don't want to hit the tripod nothing amazing just a DVD drive this does not do Blu-ray cuz Blu-ray support on the Mac kind of sucks at the moment here's the back his IDE and regular button right there it's not slot loading unfortunately that would be really cool but the Mac Pro has these drive bay doors so I don't know if I could use slot loading well I don't see why not I mean that probably comes off easily anyway now I'm rambling did my white balance change I hope not there's dust all over okay anyway I'm sorry to the new viewers out there you're probably like get on with the upgrade already well I'm taking my time cuz this is my last time doing this in this house so trying to make it special All Right Where Do We Begin guys I guess well we to get in there oh doesn't it slide out of course it does cuz Apple's design is genius look at that holy crap that was so easy oh my God you should see the dust hold on let me disconnect the ID cable the ribbon back here and power source oh my God guys looks like I got to stand up God forbid there we go guys look at this look at that dust no I won't do that I don't want to get dust all over the place but I will take the camera off the tripod and show you what it looks like well I'll just hold the tripod guys look at this this is disgusting this is the first time I'm ever going inside here since I got this thing in 2007 that is crazy all right guys I am officially an idiot I accidentally took this drive out without recording the process but believe me when I say it was very easy there were four screws total two on this side and two on this side and then they then this thing the drive slid right out of the cage very simple process now just got to figure out the right way to put the new drive in that way these grooves match up with the Mac Pro but should be very easy okay this angle looks a little better for you guys here's the cage the new drive we want it to go on the top one since I'm currently only using a top Bay on the Mac Pro I don't think I'll ever use a second Bay um well that could always change but as of right now I don't have any plans of using it so let's line these up with the holes and then okay there you go let me at least put one in there we go the screws in they're just so tiny so it's not the easiest hold to get in I know I know I'm not even going to say it put the second one in and then we'll flip this over put the remaining two in would that be funny if I put it in upside down but no we're good let's do this side same exact process and line that up of course as always my floor is creaking like a mother that's definitely something I will not miss about my room my room is way too creaky I'm very picky about that sort of thing and now the final screw of my room 2012 ever in the history of the creative one all right that's a bit dramatic and now it is in all right now it's time to plug the power in there you go as well as the IDE cable you don't really need to see the other the other side there's nothing special about it put that in bada bing bada boom and then this should just slide right in on the track boom success now let's just hope it aligns right I don't see why not but there's only one way to find out and that is we have to turn the Mac Pro on and boot it and now it is time for the moment of truth pressing the power button yay a bong is always good sweet we are fully booted now I'm going to open the optical drive and keep the camera on it for the first time to see in real time if it works here we go three two one are you serious no wait hold on let's see what happens if I hold the drive bay down now it's not high enough are you kidding me it's never easy guys it's never easy all right I have it open on the carpet which is not a good idea but I'm just going to do this anyway just to make sure this is at least working right yes okay the drive is fine just how am I going to get it to pass through there I mean the size is obviously okay I don't understand unless it was sitting on the ribbon I doubt it let me see see me try to align this come on going over to my Mac Pro nope it still jams oh you know what I have an idea I'm going to take the front door off of the drive itself cuz I don't think the other one had a front door like that I mean like a not the front door the front plate you know how it's kind of like rounded it might not be big enough the past three year and I think that's a problem my God guys I am back with the front bezel that's the word I was looking for before bezel the bezel is finally off the front so now it should fit I beat this thing up like a mother I'm not even sure if I took it off the right way because I looked up like three or four videos there is actually a great video from OWC which happens to be a coincidence that's who sold me the uh disc drive um that I will link below that will hopefully help you out point is take your time use a tiny screwdriver try to pry off the door and it turns out that it's required um for this to work on Mac pros and I think Quicks silver paramac G4S and paramac g5s I believe I don't see why not it's the same design as the Mac Pro but the front bezel is off by the way you do need a paperclip which I think is on my bed uh but to pop out the little disc Drive door right there but okay now let's put this in I swear guys there's always an issue but that's okay that's what makes these things fun right at least in my opinion it does but man now it's frustrating because Optical drives aren't really good quality quality to begin with in terms of all the plastic and whatever so I was scared of breaking something what am I doing you see that try to put it in the other way man I'm just GL that's done but moment of truth let's line this up come on you can do it there you go that is in let's plug it in again doing this on the carpet it's not a very smart idea let's leave that right there and let's see what happens sound like goes locking did you hear that that's okay let's just see what happens wait for that the boot and then I will open it up really Jazz you do not want to go in there come on okay we are booted going over to the eject key three two one yes thank the Apple Gods now let's find something to put in here I will get I my current setup I actually have to climb to get my my uh DVDs but The Hangover Part Two let's see if this works I'm just GL ad him breaking is I was a little scared back there spinning up that's a good sign good now let's launch DVD player select region that's fine beautiful it's working guys amazing and there you have it another successful Mac Pro upgrade no this isn't a Mac Pro itself unless it's the world's thinnest desktop computer this is the side panel that I still got to put on but I'll do that after this video but yes wrapping it up very successful upgrade as always there were problems but it wasn't a real problem per se uh because again this was my first time upgrading the optical drive ever inside of the Mac Pro so I wasn't aware that you had to remove remove the bezel SL front plate which makes sense though again a simple paperclip put in the hole pops out pry off the drive put it back in and you were good to go very easy upgrad and very affordable too again the optical drive just cost me $32 plus $10 shipping as I wanted it in two days unfortunately it wasn't Amazon Prime I could have gotten free shipping but either way awesome service OWC I believe sold my SSD I'm not even sure but speaking of ssds I do have an entire series of Mac Pro upgrades which I now have in playlist so that makes it nice and convenient for you guys if you're looking for upgrades on hard drives Ram graphics cards my intensity Pro which I use for my uh gaming channel over at youtube.com/ Franco gaming link is below if you want to subscribe I promise I will upload many videos very soon I just have to get all this moving stuff over with but I guess that's it guys thank you so much for watching thank you for your support for all these years throughout all these Mac Pro upgrades that I've done since 2007 uh it's pretty crazy to think that's my last upgrade ever in this room but I'm leaving behind a lot of memories however I'm also taking a lot of memories with me to my brand new place which I promise I will have future Mac Pro upgrades video videos very soon okay now I'm just tripping over my own words again guys thank you so much for watching if you do like this video prove it by clicking that like button right below I really appreciate it and I will see you guys in the video very soonhey guys where David DeFranco here from DeFranco hosting.com with my last Mac Pro upgrade video ever in this room SL house because I am indeed moving into my own place starting tonight I'm not going to be sleeping there tonight I won't be officially moved in until Sunday I think because I have a lot of stuff to move but tonight is the initial move when I start moving little things but the point of this blurb I'm trying to get out right now is the Mac Pro is a very L thing I'm moving on Sunday because it kind of runs my life and I need it for my job and my work and I just need it but before it goes I am upgrading the optical drive I did indeed buy an affordable one a cheap one whatever you want to say uh from otherw world computing otherwise known as macsales.com check them out they have awesome accessories for the Mac I just say awesome accessories because it's really no secret Macs aren't really standard in terms of Hardware upgrades but macsales.com is great because they always have a full list of compatibility with Hardware which shows which works with what sorry text messages distractions okay without further Ado let's get onto to it um on onto the upgrade yes I did indeed find myself an optical drive oh I should explain why well this one's dead it's been well not completely dead I can rip and read I just can't burn for some reason it's been like that for over a year and I have been using my Dad's Mac Mini for a while now uh and because I'm moving out I'm finally forced to get my own drive again because I'm obviously not going to drive here every time I need to write DVDs for a project that would not be convenient for me or my clients so with that said let's get on to the bubble wrap my God they really taped this thing up I could probably Chuck this thing out the window and it would it would be fine look how thick that is let's just rip into it this is not exaggeration guys it's a lot of work for an optical drive I didn't see that coming you get it Optical see eye vision anyway also included with the drive is well not only this desk but this one this was in the box I highly doubt I need it oh by the way this is light scribe and a catalog which I doubt I'll use okay so getting on to the process this is my Mac Pro let's just open it take the door off jeez dust just comes flowing out oh side notes a lot of people have been asking me if I'm buying the new Mac Pro when it comes out cu rumors are very strong that it'll be out next week no unless somebody wants to lend me a couple Grand or sponsor one I'm not going to have one anytime soon with this house and all these expenses which sucks cuz I really really do need an upgrade this thing is showing a Ag and I can't install Mountain line but eventually I will upgrade hopefully um I'm just kind of hoping the prices are a little lower because as you know the Mac Pro is not cheap at all that's the only major downside but my God look at this dust watch ready a now there's dust all over my desk that's okay I I look I'm sitting for once start my upgrade this is actually really nice usually I'm standing okay opening the optical drive by the way I've never ever upgraded an optical drive on my Mac Pro before before so this is a first for me I believe I upgraded the one on the Mac my IM actually 3 didn't I no that one's already slot loading did I upgrade it I don't think I did okay you get nero9 Essentials smells good seriously it does and here it is I don't want to hit the tripod nothing amazing just a DVD drive this does not do Blu-ray cuz Blu-ray support on the Mac kind of sucks at the moment here's the back his IDE and regular button right there it's not slot loading unfortunately that would be really cool but the Mac Pro has these drive bay doors so I don't know if I could use slot loading well I don't see why not I mean that probably comes off easily anyway now I'm rambling did my white balance change I hope not there's dust all over okay anyway I'm sorry to the new viewers out there you're probably like get on with the upgrade already well I'm taking my time cuz this is my last time doing this in this house so trying to make it special All Right Where Do We Begin guys I guess well we to get in there oh doesn't it slide out of course it does cuz Apple's design is genius look at that holy crap that was so easy oh my God you should see the dust hold on let me disconnect the ID cable the ribbon back here and power source oh my God guys looks like I got to stand up God forbid there we go guys look at this look at that dust no I won't do that I don't want to get dust all over the place but I will take the camera off the tripod and show you what it looks like well I'll just hold the tripod guys look at this this is disgusting this is the first time I'm ever going inside here since I got this thing in 2007 that is crazy all right guys I am officially an idiot I accidentally took this drive out without recording the process but believe me when I say it was very easy there were four screws total two on this side and two on this side and then they then this thing the drive slid right out of the cage very simple process now just got to figure out the right way to put the new drive in that way these grooves match up with the Mac Pro but should be very easy okay this angle looks a little better for you guys here's the cage the new drive we want it to go on the top one since I'm currently only using a top Bay on the Mac Pro I don't think I'll ever use a second Bay um well that could always change but as of right now I don't have any plans of using it so let's line these up with the holes and then okay there you go let me at least put one in there we go the screws in they're just so tiny so it's not the easiest hold to get in I know I know I'm not even going to say it put the second one in and then we'll flip this over put the remaining two in would that be funny if I put it in upside down but no we're good let's do this side same exact process and line that up of course as always my floor is creaking like a mother that's definitely something I will not miss about my room my room is way too creaky I'm very picky about that sort of thing and now the final screw of my room 2012 ever in the history of the creative one all right that's a bit dramatic and now it is in all right now it's time to plug the power in there you go as well as the IDE cable you don't really need to see the other the other side there's nothing special about it put that in bada bing bada boom and then this should just slide right in on the track boom success now let's just hope it aligns right I don't see why not but there's only one way to find out and that is we have to turn the Mac Pro on and boot it and now it is time for the moment of truth pressing the power button yay a bong is always good sweet we are fully booted now I'm going to open the optical drive and keep the camera on it for the first time to see in real time if it works here we go three two one are you serious no wait hold on let's see what happens if I hold the drive bay down now it's not high enough are you kidding me it's never easy guys it's never easy all right I have it open on the carpet which is not a good idea but I'm just going to do this anyway just to make sure this is at least working right yes okay the drive is fine just how am I going to get it to pass through there I mean the size is obviously okay I don't understand unless it was sitting on the ribbon I doubt it let me see see me try to align this come on going over to my Mac Pro nope it still jams oh you know what I have an idea I'm going to take the front door off of the drive itself cuz I don't think the other one had a front door like that I mean like a not the front door the front plate you know how it's kind of like rounded it might not be big enough the past three year and I think that's a problem my God guys I am back with the front bezel that's the word I was looking for before bezel the bezel is finally off the front so now it should fit I beat this thing up like a mother I'm not even sure if I took it off the right way because I looked up like three or four videos there is actually a great video from OWC which happens to be a coincidence that's who sold me the uh disc drive um that I will link below that will hopefully help you out point is take your time use a tiny screwdriver try to pry off the door and it turns out that it's required um for this to work on Mac pros and I think Quicks silver paramac G4S and paramac g5s I believe I don't see why not it's the same design as the Mac Pro but the front bezel is off by the way you do need a paperclip which I think is on my bed uh but to pop out the little disc Drive door right there but okay now let's put this in I swear guys there's always an issue but that's okay that's what makes these things fun right at least in my opinion it does but man now it's frustrating because Optical drives aren't really good quality quality to begin with in terms of all the plastic and whatever so I was scared of breaking something what am I doing you see that try to put it in the other way man I'm just GL that's done but moment of truth let's line this up come on you can do it there you go that is in let's plug it in again doing this on the carpet it's not a very smart idea let's leave that right there and let's see what happens sound like goes locking did you hear that that's okay let's just see what happens wait for that the boot and then I will open it up really Jazz you do not want to go in there come on okay we are booted going over to the eject key three two one yes thank the Apple Gods now let's find something to put in here I will get I my current setup I actually have to climb to get my my uh DVDs but The Hangover Part Two let's see if this works I'm just GL ad him breaking is I was a little scared back there spinning up that's a good sign good now let's launch DVD player select region that's fine beautiful it's working guys amazing and there you have it another successful Mac Pro upgrade no this isn't a Mac Pro itself unless it's the world's thinnest desktop computer this is the side panel that I still got to put on but I'll do that after this video but yes wrapping it up very successful upgrade as always there were problems but it wasn't a real problem per se uh because again this was my first time upgrading the optical drive ever inside of the Mac Pro so I wasn't aware that you had to remove remove the bezel SL front plate which makes sense though again a simple paperclip put in the hole pops out pry off the drive put it back in and you were good to go very easy upgrad and very affordable too again the optical drive just cost me $32 plus $10 shipping as I wanted it in two days unfortunately it wasn't Amazon Prime I could have gotten free shipping but either way awesome service OWC I believe sold my SSD I'm not even sure but speaking of ssds I do have an entire series of Mac Pro upgrades which I now have in playlist so that makes it nice and convenient for you guys if you're looking for upgrades on hard drives Ram graphics cards my intensity Pro which I use for my uh gaming channel over at youtube.com/ Franco gaming link is below if you want to subscribe I promise I will upload many videos very soon I just have to get all this moving stuff over with but I guess that's it guys thank you so much for watching thank you for your support for all these years throughout all these Mac Pro upgrades that I've done since 2007 uh it's pretty crazy to think that's my last upgrade ever in this room but I'm leaving behind a lot of memories however I'm also taking a lot of memories with me to my brand new place which I promise I will have future Mac Pro upgrades video videos very soon okay now I'm just tripping over my own words again guys thank you so much for watching if you do like this video prove it by clicking that like button right below I really appreciate it and I will see you guys in the video very soon\n"