Apple to reportedly end native DVD playback with macOS 27 Golden Gate

Apple recently announced the latest version of its macOS operating system — macOS 27 Golden Gate. This new version of the OS will reportedly mark the end for physical media on the Mac.

According to a report by Macworld, the macOS 27 update which is expected to release this fall will be the last version to include built-in DVD support. The long-standing DVD Player app and its underlying DVDPlayback framework are being removed, signalling Apple’s shift away from optical disc technology that once defined personal computing.

Why the DVD support is ending

As per the report, the DVDPlayback framework has not been updated in years, which results into poor image quality and jerky playback as compared to the modern alternatives.

Apple’s ecosystem now prioritises streaming, downloads, and cloud-based storage, making DVDs increasingly obsolete. The analysts also note that third party-apps like VLC already deliver superior performance, making the Apple’s native support redundant.

What it means for users

The Mac users who rely a lot on discs will need to transition to third-party software for playback. However, external DVD drives will continue to function, but macOS will no longer provide built-in playback tools.

For those with large disc libraries, experts recommend digitising content to ensure long-term accessibility.Apple's macOS Golden Gate brings a Liquid Glass slider and faster performanceApple named macOS 27 "Golden Gate" at WWDC, and Craig Federighi did it via a fake handover note from the marketing team, who'd allegedly piled into a VW microbus and motored north before telling him. That bit of theatre aside, the actual release is the first macOS in six years to cut Intel Macs loose entirely.

M-series chips and the A18 Pro-powered MacBook Neo only.Federighi pitched Golden Gate as a sweat-the-details year, and the numbers back that up. Apps open up to 30% faster, photos hit your library up to 70% faster after you take them, AirDrop is up to 80% faster, and shifting files to an external drive is now five times quicker—roughly Finder-on-Mac speeds, Apple claims. A reworked CPU scheduler does the heavy lifting underneath.There's now a transparency slider that runs from completely clear to fully tinted, so you pick your poison. Sidebars stretch to the edge of the window with refraction continuing underneath them, sidebar icons keep their colour, and every window shares the same corner radius—even apps that haven't been updated. App icons pick up extra Liquid Glass layers built directly into the artwork.