Will Apple support HD-DVD or Blu-ray on the Intel-based Macs?

For readers who intentionally have been ignoring the simmering battle between the high-definition HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, the most pressing differences are that HD-DVD is less expensive and holds a maximum of 30 GB per dual-layer disc and Blu-ray costs a bit more, but holds a maximum of 50 GB per dual-layer disc.

Some may view that as an oversimplification as there are a number of technical differences as well. You may wish to dig through the respective official HD-DVD and Blu-ray websites for the details. Blu-ray.com has posted an excellent FAQ about Blu-ray, and BitBurners has posted an excellent FAQ about HD-DVD that you likewise may wish to read.

It is reminiscent of the VHS vs. BetaMax contest in the 1980s, and at least in the home audio/video arena, some think that the formats already have failed primarily because consumers are disinterested in choosing a side until one wins. Regardless, there are numerous computer users who already have found a way to fill multiple dual-layer DVDs and would very much like to burn more data to a disc for backup purposes if nothing else.

As for which format Apple will support, Apple is a member of the Blu-ray Disc Association, along with Dell, HP, Sony, Pioneer, Samsung and others, so one could anticipate that Apple will support Blu-ray. Companies supporting HD-DVD include Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu, Microsoft, and Intel, among others.

When Apple might begin offering Blu-ray is a more difficult question to answer, but if history is any indication, Apple tends to introduce new optical formats with professional systems, and after the market is established, begins to add them to consumer systems starting with more expensive models.

One interesting option to circumvent the format "war" would be to install a Ricoh "hybrid" Blu-ray/HD-DVD optical drive. As reported by EE Times:

Trying to bridge the gap between next-generation optical disk formats, Ricoh said it has developed an optical component that reads and writes all disk formats--Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD, as well as DVD and CD--with one pickup and one objective lens. . .

[It] is designed to adjust a light beam to an optimum incident ray relative to the objective lens so that light focuses on the proper position for each disk format.

Ultimately, only time will tell when, or if, Apple will begin to roll out systems with support for next generation optical drives.

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