Apple yesterday released iTunes 12.7.2, yet another maintenance update to the app. There are no major changes, but I spotted something interesting in the preferences. Previously, even if you didn’t have an optical drive connected to your Mac, the General preferences showed a menu allowing you to choose what iTunes does when a CD is detected.
Now, in iTunes 12.7.2, that menu is not displayed if there is no drive. The Import Settings button is still there, but not the When a CD is Inserted menu.
This makes sense, in some ways. If you don’t have an optical drive, you don’t need to see these settings. And no current Macs offer internal optical drives, and few people use them in any case. But if you occasionally connect an optical drive to your computer via USB, then you’ll only know this setting exists if the drive is actually connected.
You still need the Import Settings (though the name isn’t correct); this lets you set a format and bit rate for files that you convert in iTunes. You can do this by selecting one or more files, then choosing File > Convert > Create [format] Version.
Like many Apple computers, my MBP has an optical drive built in (2012 MBP), but I use iTunes as little as possible. The iTunes Store is like looking through someone’s junk drawer, so I use that as little as possible too. The whole thing is becoming the realm of hobbyists and geeks, kind of the old amateur short wave radio, complex but interesting.
Change for the sake of change isn’t good.
Like many Apple computers, my MBP has an optical drive built in (2012 MBP), but I use iTunes as little as possible. The iTunes Store is like looking through someone’s junk drawer, so I use that as little as possible too. The whole thing is becoming the realm of hobbyists and geeks, kind of the old amateur short wave radio, complex but interesting.
Change for the sake of change isn’t good.
I’m a bit hazy, but can’t macOS share an optical drive attached to another computer on the network? iTunes can import from such a drive, right?
I’m a bit hazy, but can’t macOS share an optical drive attached to another computer on the network? iTunes can import from such a drive, right?
@craig I’ve checked and an Audio CD is not presented in this version of iTunes when using a remote CD/DVD drive.
I don’t know whether this was supported in earlier version of iTunes.
No, that never worked with audio CDs, only data CDs.
@craig I’ve checked and an Audio CD is not presented in this version of iTunes when using a remote CD/DVD drive.
I don’t know whether this was supported in earlier version of iTunes.
No, that never worked with audio CDs, only data CDs.