Top 8 Free Blu-ray Player for Mac [2023 Updated List]
- Lafanda
- 16/10/2023
Blu-ray Player
While Apple stopped distributing the Mac series computers with a built-in drive in 2012, you can still play Blu-ray on Mac, though it is a bit troublesome. You have to pay $100 - $160 for an external drive (such as Sony and LG) and get a region-free Blu-ray player app to decode Blu-rays for smooth playback.
With so many free Blu-ray player programs out there claiming that they can handle region-locked Blu-ray discs, it's hard to tell which is the best Mac Blu-ray player. Don't worry! We've rounded up the top 8 free Mac Blu-ray player software, among which completely free players and paid ones that offer free trials are both included. Just keep reading and get the Blu-ray player for Mac to enjoy your Blu-ray collections!
Part 1. A Professional Mac Blu-ray Player [Best Overall]
Our top recommendation for you is VideoByte Blu-ray Player. This Mac Blu-ray player software stands out for its excellent performance in playing Blu-ray discs, ISO, and folders. Meanwhile, it provides a professional solution to decrypting disc DRM protection and unlocking region codes to ensure 100% success in playing all Blu-ray discs worldwide. Apart from its high compatibility with SD videos, HD videos, and 4K video playback, it also offers various advanced audio decoding technologies like Dolby, DTS, AAC, etc., to deliver the best audio quality possible.
Better still, VideoByte offers easy menu control, including jumping to the target chapter in one click or selecting the subtitles and audio tracks you need. Besides, the whole Blu-ray playback process is easy and intuitive, so you won't run into any trouble using this best Blu-ray player for Mac. Since VideoByte Blu-ray Player is great for playing Blu-ray on Mac, you will need to pay to unlock its full functions. But it will offer a 30-day free trial, and you can try it first to consider buying it or not.
Highlights of VideoByte Blu-ray Player:
- 30-day free trial.
- Play commercial Blu-rays easily by bypassingcommon region codes and protections.
- Play Blu-ray movies at 4K Ultra-HD quality without any loss of frames.
- Support playback of Blu-ray discs/folders/ISO files and BDMV files.
- User-friendly operation.
- Dolby Digital, DTS, etc., to deliver superior listening enjoyment.
- Compatible with Windows/
- Support all multimedia formats.
3 Simple Steps to Play Any Blu-ray Movie Discs on Mac
To play Blu-ray discs, you need an external optical drive connected to your MacBook Pro, iMac, etc. Then, connect your Mac to the Internet.
Step 1. Download and launch the VideoByte Blu-ray Player on your Mac. Then click the "Open Disc" button to load the Blu-ray movie.
Step 2. Then the program will pop up a window, and you can select the Blu-ray disc and click on "OK" to continue.
Step 3. After loading the Blu-ray disc, a Blu-ray menu will appear. Then, you can select the "Subtitle", "Audio Track" and "Title" that you're preferred. Or you can directly start watching the Blu-ray movie on Mac by clicking "Play Movie".
VideoByte Blu-ray Player is a good choice for playing 4K resolution Blu-rays and delivers a cinema-like experience. Free to download and have a try!
Other useful information you may need:
Part 2. Other 7 Free Blu-ray Player for Mac 2023 (Detailed Review)
Top 1. VLC Media Player for Mac: Free but Tricky
Best for playing non-protected and protected Blu-rays for free
Developed by VideoLAN, VLC Media Player is an open-source and versatile player well-known for playing DVD, CD, and VCD discs on Mac & Windows. Better still, its 2.0 and later versions can perform as a free program to play Blu-ray discs on Mac, though you need to add some plugins in advance. Whether your Blu-ray disc is protected or not, VLC can bypass the major copy protection and play them easily, making it ideal for playing commercial 4K movies and your own Blu-ray discs.
However, you should be aware that it can not deal with all disc protection as its latest keys database was only updated in 2018. If you fail to open your Blu-ray collection with VLC, you may need to try other tools capable of breaking almost all protection, like VideoByte Blu-ray Player.
Pros:
- Open-source freeware.
- No spyware and safe.
- No pop-up advertisement.
- Multiple customization settings.
Cons:
- Not all Blu-ray movies are supported.
- Cumbersome steps are required to play Blu-ray discs.
- No Blu-ray menus.
- Some playback problems, such as delayed subtitles and no sound, may occur when playing commercial Blu-rays.
Top 2. Leawo Blu-ray Player: Free but with Low Resolution
Best for playing HD Blu-rays that are region-locked
Leawo Blu-ray Player for Mac is the best Blu-ray player for Mac that can play Blu-ray discs, folders, and ISO images. Even if your Blu-rays are purchased in other regions, Leawo, one of the best region-free Blu-ray players, can decode almost all region codes and play the discs for you. It also provides a Blu-ray menu to let you fully control the media playback, with which you can jump to your preferred content.
However, such free Mac Blu-ray player service comes at the cost of unresponsive customer support. Some users complained that they would give them negative stars because they didn't hear from the support team once. And it only supports video quality up to 1080P. During our testing, there were several annoying problems. For instance, the Blu-ray ripper often crashes when playing a Blu-ray disc on old computers.
Note: If you prefer 4K Blu-ray player software for Mac, just take a look at VideoByte Blu-ray Player, a media player ideal for playing Blu-ray movies and videos up to 4K.
Pros:
- Support Blu-ray discs in all regions.
- Provide Blu-ray menu control.
- Able to play video/audio files like 4K MKV, HD AVI, SD MP4, etc.
- Simple to use and has an intuitive interface.
Cons:
- Up to 1080P quality of video playback.
- Crash several times when starting to play Blu-ray/DVD.
- A little hard to use the virtual mouse to control the Blu-ray menu.
- Loading a Blu-ray disc could take 35 seconds which is slower than other products.
- Use too much CPU of a computer.
- Ads included.
- Terrible customer support.
Top 3. Free Mac Blu-ray Player: Limited Playback Control
Best for playing media files in a wide range of formats
As its name suggests, Free Mac Blu-ray Player is completely free of charge for playing Blu-ray discs, Blu-ray folders, and ISO files. Featuring wide compatibility in formats like MP4, MOV, M4V, WMV, and so on, this Blu-ray player opens media files of popular formats. It also offers menu control, with which you can choose any chapter, audio tracks, and subtitles freely to have a wonderful Blu-ray-watching experience.
Still, the Mac Blu-ray player doesn't allow you to view your Blu-ray movie in full screen. And it imposes a watermark when playing your BD discs. If you want to create GIFs or take screenshots of your favorite scenes, you need to find extra editing tools to remove the watermark. Moreover, you won't get 24/7 customer support in the free version when you run into any problems.
Pros:
- Provides Blu-ray disc menu.
- No ads and safe.
Cons:
- Watermark on the top left corner.
- No permission to switch to full screen.
- Cannot open some newly-released Blu-ray movie discs.
- No customer support in the free edition.
- Its technical upgrade is slow and the latest upgrade was launched in 2019.
Top 4. Macgo Mac Blu-ray Player: Limited Blu-ray Support
Best for playing commercial 4K Blu-ray collections
Macgo has two versions of Mac Blu-ray player software for Mac users. What we introduce today is the basic one - Macgo Blu-ray Player. It is a 4K Blu-ray player that can easily play commercial Blu-ray discs in high quality. As most commercial Blu-rays are encrypted with copy protection, Macgo can decrypt the common protection and play them for you. But when it comes to playback experience, Macgo Blu-ray Player may pale compared with other free tools such as VLC. It may get laggy, sometimes drop the frame, or get stuck.
Another factor that could affect your experience is its watermark. When you play your favorite Blu-ray movie discs, the Macgo would put a watermark in the center during the playback unless you upgrade to the pro version. What's worse, Macgo doesn't support many formats like MP4, 4K video, MKV, FLV, MOV, 3GPP and other formats.
Note: For a stable and enjoyable playback without a watermark, try other tools like VideoByte Blu-ray Player, which brings the best viewing experience with 4K resolution and menu control.
Pros:
- Play commercial Blu-ray discs easily.
- High video quality supported for playback.
Cons:
- Watermark in the picture center.
- Consume high CPU usage.
- No support for all DVDs, DVD files, and Blu-ray folders/ISO files.
- All media files are unavailable for playback.
Top 5. Aurora Blu-ray Media Player: Takes up High CPU Resources
Best for playing Blu-rays in different foreign languages
Another Mac Blu-ray player software is Aurora Blu-ray Media Player. It is a media player ideal for opening a variety of video types, including DVD, ISO, VCD, and HD Blu-rays. If the Blu-ray you want to play is a foreign movie, Aurora has multiple language options and can play it with different languages of subtitles and audio tracks. If you have an outstanding home audio system, you can also get the best sound experience via output channels such as DTS HD 7.1.
As powerful as Aurora Blu-ray Media Player is, the software offers playback in its free trial version with a watermark. Meanwhile, it takes up relatively high CPU resources. So you may not run multiple tasks when watching Blu-ray movies. Besides, the Aurora media player contains several different settings that may require a steep learning curve to grasp.
Pros:
- Support multiple languages with subtitles and soundtrack.
- Superb sound experience.
Cons:
- Have a watermark on the free version.
- A rather complex interface.
Top 6. DVDFab Ultra HD Player: Great but Expensive
Best for playing UHD Blu-rays in common formats
Like VideoByte, DVDFab Ultra HD Player is also a 4K Blu-ray player for macOS and Windows. When playing Blu-ray discs with main movie titles and background audio, it also offers menu controls, enabling you to control the Blu-ray playback. To ensure a high-quality viewing, DVDFab Player supports HEVC, 4K UHD, and other digital media files such as AVI and MP4, making it perfect for playing 4K movies. When playing movies of lossless quality, you can easily perceive the details even if you only have a mediocre monitor display.
However, DVDFab Player is not a free Blu-ray player. It only provides a 30-day free trial. When the trial ends, you'll have to purchase a license. But the cost for its one-year plan is almost equal to 3 times of other products. Also, it applies transcoding technology to improve its performance, which might lead to quality loss when playing the disc.
Note: For the best value for money, VideoByte Blu-ray Player is a better option with smooth video playback of protected Blu-rays, 4K video quality, multiple formats, and menu control.
Pros:
- Support 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and DVD.
- Support most formats such as MKV, MP4, and AVI.
Cons:
- Its free trial only lasts 30 days.
- Too expensive for its full version.
Top 7. Elmedia Player Free: Free but Limited Service
Best for playing unprotected Blu-ray discs with various editing features
Elmedia Player is a free and powerful Blu-ray player to play virtually all kinds of media files or physical discs. This player comes with additional features including downloading external subtitles and can fix issues such as audio and subtitles out of sync. It also offers basic playback settings such as pausing video, adjusting volume, and resizing the screen, enabling you to watch your preferred part. For tech-savvy users, the player also offers many customization settings to tweak. However, the only drawback is that the software may fail to work with protected Blu-ray discs.
Pros:
- Support thousands of video and audio formats.
- Support subtitles and playlists.
- Highly customizable settings.
Cons:
- Can only play unprotected Blu-ray videos.
Part 3. Comparison Between Free Blu-ray Player for Mac
Blu-ray discs, folders & ISO files | Protected Blu-ray | 4K UHD Blu-ray | Easy to use | Price | |
VideoByte Blu-ray Player | √ | √ | √ | √ | $49.95/ lifetime (with 30-day free trial) |
VLC Media Player | √ | × (Only support unprotected ones & AACS) | √ (Not stable) | × | Free |
Leawo Blu-ray Player | √ | √ | × | √ | $44.95/year (Free for basic version) |
Macgo Mac Blu-ray Player | × (Blu-ray disc only) | √ | × | √ | $29.95/lifetime (Free for basic version) |
Free Mac Blu-ray Player | √ (Not the latest ones) | √ | √ | √ | $40.21/lifetime (Free for the basic version) |
Aurora Blu-ray Media Player | √ | √ | √ | × | $49.95/lifetime |
DVDFab Ultra HD Player | √ | √ | √ | √ | $49.99/year (with 30-day free trial) |
Elmedia Player Free | √ | × | √ | √ | Free |
Tip:
Some of you may also want to buy Blu-ray player hardware to read your Blu-ray, since normal DVD drive won't detect Blu-ray discs. Here we'd like to recommend you several choices and you can select one:
- ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray Drive: $124.99 (Amazon)
- LG BP60NB10 Ultra Slim Blu-ray Drive: $99.99 (Amazon)
- LG WP50NB40 Ultra Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer: $110 (Amazon)
Summary
The above 8 best free Blu-ray players for macOS are the most useful playback utilities that we highly recommend. To evaluate if the Blu-ray player will satisfy your needs, you can also consider these factors:
- Smooth playback of protected and non-protected Blu-ray discs up to 4K.
- Compatible with macOS.
- Free of charge. No watermark.
- Supported popular video and audio formatsfor playback.
- Customization settings for playback controls.
- Ease of use.
However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You may find that some free tools have limitations, such as free trials and limited formats. They may not be able to play all your Blu-ray movie collections. Therefore, if you want to play a commercial Blu-ray disc on a Mac and get a smoother playback experience, we recommend VideoByte Blu-ray Player, a professional and easy-to-use Blu-ray player for Mac. Try it out to enjoy Blu-ray movies on your Mac.
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