Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/17/apple_hd_dvd_support_mooted/
Apple may be preparing to support not only Blu-ray Disc but also HD DVD, it has emerged. The next major relase of the Mac OS X operating system, 'Leopard' may allow users to play and burn both types of high-definition media - making it a sort of Hi-Def Leppard, we suppose... oh well... - it has be claimed.
According to Think Secret sources (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0610brieflyhddvd.html?www.reghardware.co.uk), Final Cut Studio, Apple's pro-oriented digital movie editing tool may also be updated with BD and HD DVD support. The moles point to a possible hardware release sometime during the first half of 2007.
That at least is eminently easy to do given the new Mac Pro enclosure's twin optical drive bays, and Apple has form here: when it launched its SuperDrive DVD burner it was quick to stress the drives support for the DVD-R/RW format, but it wasn't that long before the drive and Mac OS X's disc-burning code could handle DVD+R/RW too.
Apple threw its weight behind Blu-ray Disc format (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/10/apple_backs_blu-ray/) in March 2005, but with neither BD nor HD DVD yet making any clear headway over the other - and unlikely to for the time being - there's a strong argument for supporting both or neither until a winner emerges. Or someone ships a cheap player capable of reading and writing both formats. ®
Apple to roll out Mac OS X 10.5 next week (16 October 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/10/16/apple_announces_leopard_day/
Apple delays Leopard for your own good (12 April 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/12/leopard_delay/
LG brings 4x Blu-ray burner to UK (15 November 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/15/lg_ships_uk_blu-ray_burner/
Adult movies will not decide outcome of HD DVD, Blu-ray (2 November 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/11/02/adult_blu-ray_vs_hd_dvd/
Apple patches Windows-on-Mac app (31 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/31/apple_updates_bootcamp/
Apple to ship 15.4in MacBook next May? (27 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/27/apple_15-4in_macbook/
Mac OS X 10.4.8 runs on any PC... (25 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/25/osx_generic_intel/
Apple MacBook Pros drop Core Duo for Core 2 Duo (24 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/24/apple_updates_macbook_pros/
Brits spend more on HD DVD than Blu-ray (24 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/24/brits_spend_more_on_hddvd/
DVD Forum kicks off HD DVD region-coding scheme (6 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/06/hd_dvd_to_get_region_coding/
Sony to patch Blu-ray burners for BD-ROM playback (2 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/02/sony_readies_bd-rom_patch/
Toshiba touts laptop-friendly HD DVD burner (2 October 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/02/toshiba_hddvd_laptop_drive/
Boffins attempt to patent dual-format HD DVD, Blu-ray combo disc (18 September 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/18/bd_hd_dvd_disc_patent_app/
Roxio paves way for Mac-compatible Blu-ray burners (25 July 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/25/roxio_readies_blu-ray_toast_tool/
HP goes HD DVD (19 December 2005)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2005/12/19/hp_goes_hd-dvd/
Apple backs Blu-ray (10 March 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/10/apple_backs_blu-ray/