Best DVD Player for Mac Review: How to Play DVD on Mac OS X (El Capitan)

What’s the best DVD/Media player for Mac System OSX Yosemite? My current media player, VLC does not seem to work with Yosemite. What should I replace it with?

2015 is glutted with an overwhelming number of Hollywood blockbusters but also brims with incalculable new DVD releases like Taken 3, 50 Shades of Grey, etc. For Mac owners obsessed with these movies, finding a powerful DVD player for Mac OS X seems to be their top priority as they can therefore watch the flicks as many times as they wish. With so many paid and free Mac DVD player software being in full flood, we put together the top 5 best DVD player for Mac (El Capitan/Yosemite/Mavericks) and a Mac DVD ripper that supports all DVD playback on Mac, Macbook Pro/Air.

• Part 1: Top 5 Free or Paid DVD Player for Mac
• Part 2: Play DVD on Mac (El Capitan) without Installing Extra Media Player

Top 5 Best DVD Player for Mac OS X/Macbook Air/Pro/iMac 5K Retina

Below we compare 5 DVD players for Mac (free or paid) with features that make each one special and awesome, covering VLC, MacX DVD Ripper Pro, QuickTime, Apple DVD player and 5KPlayer, based on online opinion polls and a complete data analysis from download sites and reviews.

5KPlayer

5KPlayer may be new for many people but it is an awesome region-free DVD player working on Mac OS X (El Capitan) and Windows (10) that deserves your attention. Without any ads, malware or spyware, it is 100% safe to get both homemade and copy-protected discs playing on iMac 5K, Macbook Air/Pro, Mac Mini with near HD quality. The Mac-stylish UI is highly acclaimed among DVD users. Working as an all-in-one free media player, you can even play ISO image, Video_TS folder, play 4K/8K UHD videos, 3D videos, etc, all at your fingertips.

Pros: Support playing CSS, RCE, Sony ARccOS, Disney protected DVDs;
Not only a DVD player on Mac, but also a free media player, video downloader and Airplay sender/receiver;
Clean and awesome skin and UI.

Cons: Hold no brief for multi-language.

VLC Media Player

VLC is the most popular open-source and cross-platform media player that supports physical media (DVD, Audio-CD, VCD), almost all audios and videos (H264, MPEG4, MP4, MOV, AVI, Ogg, DivX, MKV, MP3, etc) and streaming protocols. It is the best option available as free DVD player for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. Technically, you can even use this Mac DVD player software to play encrypted DVD discs without the aid of any third party software, as long as your Mac computer has a DVD drive for you to insert and view your disc.

Pros: Great audio/video performance;
Support playback of encrypted DVDs from Disney, Sony, paramount, etc;
Support a wide range of media file types, including HD and Bluray discs.

Cons: The user interface is a little bit unlikeable, with skin options needing enhancement;
Run into problems like VLC won’t play MKV, VLC audio sync error, and VLC subtitle delayfrom users feedbacks.

KMPlayer

KMPlayer is similar to VLC, which is also a solid open-source media player that can deal with any media and subtitle formats you throw at it, ranging from VCD, DVD, AVI, MKV, OGM, 3GP, WMV, QuickTime to compressed audio album. The bonus features enable you to play damaged/incomplete AVI file, locked files while downloading and even play movies without worrying about formats and storage on Android and iOS. Editor from CNET gives KMplayer 4-star rating. No wonder it is one of the best DVD player for Mac OS X.

Pros: Easy access to subtitle management, brightness adjustments and frame captures;
Handle a bewildering variety of media files;
Stream local videos to your mobile device via Wi-Fi, provided you install Connect app on Android or iOS.

Cons: A preview-heavy Mac DVD player that throws ads and links constantly;
Force you to find a KMPlayer for Mac alternative as it contains bundled apps.

XBMC

Labeled as the High Definition Hub for all kinds of media, XBMC Media Center joins our top 5 best DVD player working for Mac list with no ambiguity. This free open-source media center is a pretty good contender as 5KPlayer, being easy to use, slick and supported by a large community of users. It offers a number of options and settings that allow you to play DVDs right out of the box from the main menu something other free DVD players cannot do yet maximize DVD playback quality.

Pros: Look great from the start with lots of skins;
Stream video over a network with no effort.

Cons: Take some time to customize for Macs.

QuickTime

QuickTime media player is the default DVD/video player on Mac OS system and is obviously the best option for Mac users to play DVD freely. This best Mac DVD player freeware supports most common video/audio formats, enables you to play HD videos, record, edit and stream internet videos as well. It turns your Mac into a DVD player for watching movies without a TV. All you need to do is to select the file from the menu option, click on Open and navigate to the file you want to watch.

Pros: Slick user interface.

Cons: Supports limited video formats, WMV and DivX are not playable.
Require frequent update to get maximum use of it and suit Macs.

How to Play DVD on Mac (El Capitan), If Extra Media Player Is Undesirable

It is easy to watch movies in the way of using a DVD player for Mac. But from time to time, your DVD player not working on Mac will perplex you. What if you end up with compatibility issues or you are reluctant to install an extra media player or take along DVD discs with your during travel? To that end, MacX DVD Ripper Profor Mac (DVD ripper for Windows 10) is here to settle down the problems. Working flawlessly on Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan, it can copy and rip both homemade and commercial DVDs to Mac’s default QuickTime player format like MOV, MP4, M4V with ease, such that you can play DVD on Mac without a hitch.

As the best DVD player for Mac alternative, it transforms a DVD movie into a high-definition masterpiece with no quality loss and saves the file in MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, MPEG4, H264, MKV, etc. Thus you can play DVD movies seamlessly on the latest mobiles, be it Apple iPhone, iPad or Android Samsung, HTC, without taking along discs. The DVD ripping process is as simple as that when using the DVD player for Mac.

1Free download Mac DVD ripper, install and launch it. Insert the DVD your want to play to your hard drive by hitting the DVD button.

2If you just want to play DVD on Mac computer, you can simply choose the QuickTime supported video formats like MOV, MP4, M4V as the output format from the Mac General Video.

3Click Browse to specify the destination path.

4Hit RUN button to start DVD conversion on Mac.

Tips: It’s at your disposal to trim the DVD movie, cut off unwanted part, crop frame size, add SRT subtitles to the movie, extract the soundtrack from the DVD movie to be saved as your ringtone and even upload the movie to YouTube or Facebook for sharing.