Best No-Cost DVD Players Compatible with macOS Big Sur & Older Versions: Top 10 Picks

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Top 10 Free DVD Players for Mac: Play DVD on Mac Easily

Posted by Kaylee Wood | Last update: June 29, 2020

A majority of blockbuster movies are released in DVD format, for example Mad Max: Fury Road, Inside Out, etc. For Mac users with DVDs, finding a powerful DVD player for Mac seems to be their first concern! With countless paid/free Mac DVD player software in the market, we sort out the top 10 free DVD players for Mac OS Big Sur/Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, Mavericks through careful and comprehensive reviewing. Just read on and find your favorite one!

No. 2 VLC - Open-source Free DVD Player for Mac

VLC is an open source media player which supports playing audios, videos, DVD, CD, VCD, etc. for free. As a cross-platform DVD player freeware, it is compatible with not only Mac OS, but also Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS. Technically, this free DVD player for Mac allows you to play encrypted DVDs without third party help. However, it sometimes runs into problems like VLC can’t play DVD on Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9/Yosemite 10.10, VLC Audio Delay , VLC won’t play H.265 HEVC , etc.

No. 3 KMPlayer - Multi-functional Mac DVD player

Just like VLC, KMPlayer is also an open source media player software for playing almost any media files, from VCD to DVD, and from MP4 to MKV thanks to the self-contained video audio codecs. The bonus features of this multi-functional Mac DVD player is that it can cope with damaged/incomplete AVI file, and takes very little space in your Mac. But ads pop up constantly when you are using it, and bundled applications are also annoying, forcing you to look for a KMPlayer Mac alternative .

No. 4 QuickTime - The Default DVD Player for macOS

Since QuickTime is the default video/DVD player for Mac OS X, it is obviously one of the best options for Mac users to play DVDs. This free DVD player supports commonly used video audio formats with bonus functions like video/music recording, editing and streaming. Unfortunately, it only has support for limited video formats and requires frequent update.

No. 5 Apple DVD Player - The Default DVD Player for Mac OS X

Apple DVD Player is the default DVD player in Mac OS X. It supports all kinds of standard DVD features including multiple audio, video and subtitle tracks. In addition, it is fully compatible with DVDs authored by DVD Studio Pro and iDVD. Complying with most copyright laws and enforcing the most restrictive measures of DVD technology, this free DVD player for Mac is inevitably confined to DVD region codes and encryption techs, which leads users to use alternative software.

No. 6 MPlayer

MPlayer is a free and open source media player that is available for all major operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows as well as Linux. It is able to play a variety of physical media formats such as DVD, CD, Blu-ray disc and video CD, as well as numerous video audio files. What’s more, it can save all sorts of streamed content to a file locally, but offers no way to save playlists, so the DVD movies will pause when you are trying to access the menu.

No. 7 PowerDVD

PowerDVD works as a high quality and region-free DVD player for Mac. It plays virtually any media you throw at it, including DVD. This DVD player freeware provides sharper details and seamless playback with unique TrueTheater technology. What makes PowerDVD stands out is that it comes with playback of HD discs and power saving mode for your computer thus ensuring high quality visual effect and long entertainment time.

No. 8 XBMC

XBMC is an increasingly popular Mac DVD player coming with a number of settings that enable you to optimize DVD playback. This free open source DVD player for Mac allows you to play DVDs right out of box from the main menu, something that other free media players cannot do. Moreover, it looks great with lots of optional skins, but takes some time to customize for Macs.

No. 9 Mac Blu-ray Player

Mac Blu-ray Player is the first Blu-ray media player software for Mac, which can successfully play Blu-ray videos , Blu-ray disc, ISO files and BDMV folder, as well as other media formats on Mac OS X. It outputs video at up to 1080p without quality loss and frame, and allows full preservation of audio tracks along with DTS 5.1. This free DVD player for Mac sometimes fails to open discs during BDAV playback and crashes under Mac OS X 10.7.

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No. 10 Mac Media Player

Mac Media Player, famous for its HD playback feature all over the world, is also an excellent Mac DVD player freeware with hardware acceleration capabilities. Featuring output up to 1080p, DTS 5.1 audio system, it can provide you with pleasing multimedia enjoyment. Although it is easy to use, it still has the potential to take up a great amount of system resources and slow down your Mac.

Top 10 Free DVD Players for Mac (macOS Big Sur & Earlier)

No. 1 5KPlayer - Best Free DVD Player Software for Mac & Windows 10

5KPlayer is an all-in-one DVD player software designed to play any video music and DVD (DVD disc, ISO image, VIDEO_TS) on Mac and Windows (10) with no ads, malware or spyware.

As the best free DVD player for Mac, it not only has full support for playing DVDs encoded into region codes 1-6 on 5K iMac, MacBook Air/Pro, Mac Mini, but also gives you a free access to play encrypted DVDs without worrying about DVD CSS, Disney DRM, Sony ARccOS, and the latest DVD protection techs. Moreover, featuring output up to 8K/4320p and DTS 5.1/7.1, this powerful Mac DVD player also plays 4K DVD movies with super excellent video audio quality brought by TrueTheater technology, and allows adding external subtitles to video /DVD for better viewing experience.

How to Play DVD on Mac OS with Best Free DVD Player 5KPlayer?

Step 1. Download 5KPlayer for Mac , install and launch this best DVD player for Mac;

Note: 5KPlayer for Windows is also provided for your convenience.

Step 2. Load DVD source. To input DVD files, just click “DVD” button on the main interface, or choose DVD Disc/ISO image/VIDEO_TS folder from the file menu.

Note: After finish loading, 5KPlayer will play the DVD automatically, and allow you to choose title, chapter, specific audio/subtitle track, etc.

5KPlayer-the best free DVD player for Mac is also an HD video player software which plays 4k/5k/8k videos , 1080p, blu-ray and 3D movies in MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV and any other formats. As a bonus, it supports free downloading video from 300+ online sites. Best of all, it is a perfect DLNA sender/receiver which helps you stream DVD and video music from iPhone (Xs), iPad/iPad Pro, iPod, Android and Mac to smart TV.

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