Some video publishers might choose more elaborate methods of encryption, which might prevent you from ripping the DVD all together.

But DVD and Blu-ray films and TV shows arent gone completely, and youve probably got some lying around the house.

We also cover the legal side of things, for those who are wondering if ripping is illegal.

But most of the time, in the US and the UK, ripping DVDs and Blu-ray Discs is illegal, even if you paid for it.

Youre unlikely to be prosecuted for making personal copies, but this is the (very slim) risk you take.

Some courts have tried to leaven this rather harsh rule, but most have not.

And if youve bought the DVD yourself, most people would argue that youre on safe ground, ethically speaking.

If you arent planning to make copies to sell, or even share with your friends, its unlikely that ripping them will get you in trouble.

And since DVDs do have a shelf-life, in as much as they may not work in a few years time (or right now if they are very old) you may be wise to digitise them before its too late.

DVDs are quite big: theyre likely to hold somewhere between 700MB and 9.4GB of files.

Best App For Ripping Cds Mac Has Shipped

This is likely to be a challenge as no Mac has shipped with an optical drive since Apple stopped selling the 2012 13in MacBook Pro in 2016.

To do so you need to use Remote Disc, we discuss how to do that here.

Locate your DVD and click on it; youll be presented with several options.

You should choose New Image which is in the centre along the top.

The copy-protection isnt there just to make your life difficult.

Handbrake doesnt officially allow you to rip a copy-protected DVD, after all that would be illegal.

But there is an additional tool that you can download separately that makes this extra step possible.

Best App For Ripping Cds Install A Mac

You may have trouble installing it on your Mac depending on the version of macOS you are running (well assume youve dug out an aging Mac with a DVD and have no issues, but if your Mac is running a newer version of macOS you may want to read: How to install a Mac app from an unidentified developer ).

HandBrake should pick up your DVD automatically, but if it doesnt, select Source and locate the DVD in the popup window.

We suggest setting Format to MP4 as that can be played back on both Mac and iOS devices.

If youre ripping solely for iPadiPhoneiPod touch, click the Toggle Presets button on the toolbar and select the device from the list at the right - this will set the optimum quality and file size.).

But if you let HandBrake rip the DVD at the maximum allocated size youll receive the best quality possible - if youre just watching on Mac and dont care about space, go for this option.

Then attach your device, select it from the dropdown list at the top right, click on the Movies heading, and ensure Sync Movies has a tick next to it, and that your movie file beneath is ticked too.

This is an attempt by VideoLAN, creators of VLC Player, to decrypt files.