Apple's Admits Its SuperDrives Have Reliability Problems

Even though several users of PowerBook G4 systems have been complaining for months about a problem regarding the systems' SuperDrives, Apple is only now acknowledging these complaints as real facts.

In an official statement, Apple admits that "some earlier PowerBook G4 computers that have a SuperDrive with a 2x DVD-R write speed may not be able to burn 8x DVD-R media reliably. Because of this, you should only use 2x or 4x DVD-R media."

We presume that, in order for this statement to have any logic, Apple means "SuperDrive with a 8x DVD-R write speed".
These drives have written discs only at speeds of 2X and 4X, despite the 8X performance label they carry.

However, if waiting for Apple to admit these drives have a problem was annoying enough, watching how the company does nothing to fix this problem is even more frustrating.
After all, just how difficult is it to rewrite a firmware update, have all users patch their drives and keep everybody happy?

Other than recommending the use of 2X and 4X discs, Apple doesn't change anything about these drives. SuperDrives which contain the code "UJ-816" as part of their serial number are most likely to be affected.