macOS 27 Golden Gate marks the end of built-in DVD support

If you’re still using DVD media on a Mac with the most current operating system, you’ll need to make arrangements soon to continue using those discs. As noted in the macOS 27 Golden Gate beta 2 release notes, the DVDPlayback framework is not in the macOS 27 Golden Gate SDK, which means that apps can no longer use it. The notes go on to say that “in a future macOS release,” Apple will remove the framework completely.

That leaves the door open for the built-in DVD Player app to be included in macOS 27 Golden Gate when it is officially released this fall. This also likely means that Golden Gate will be the last version of macOS to include a native DVD app. Users will eventually have to turn to a third-party app, such as VLC.

The DVDPlayback framework is quite old and Apple has not updated it in years. The neglect shows–DVD Player produces playback that is jerky and of low image quality. I’ve had much better results using VLC. Apple doesn’t even make the DVD Player app easily findable; it’s located in the /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications folder, not in the regular Applications folder. The DVD Player app automatically launches if you insert a DVD into a connected DVD drive.