I have a 2019 Mac console and I need to find an external DVD Burner that will work well on my Mac

Sure ! You’d like one with USB-C connection or USB-A? There are lots of ‘em, starting at $38.. as for software… well, there’s “Burn” which is free and works for basic stuff.., for more advanced stuff, Roxio’s Toast… of course if you wanted to “go Blu”( eg Blu-Ray burning and playing ) you could do that too, but you’d have to pay for Blu Ray playing software/apps and of course for recording Blu-Rays… all you have to do is look for one that says “works with Mac”/Mac OS X” and you should be okay… I’ve bought stuff from OwC/macsales in the past and they’ve been pretty reliable..

John B

I recommend avoiding Apple's USB SuperDrive. It was last updated over 12 year ago 😱 and seems the source of a number of trouble reports here. It also appear the it may be discontinued, judging from the "Sold Out" tag on the Apple Store web page:

Apple USB SuperDrive - Apple

I also like the model varjak paw recommends for a number of reasons:

• it is USB3, not USB2 like the SuperDrive, so does faster reads and writes.
• It is a tray-loader, a config historically more reliable that slot-load optical drives.
• More reliable power—it has an independent power supply so it is not scabbing power from your computer's USB ports.
• The OWC has replaceable power and data cables: if your cat chews through the fixed-in-place combination power/data cable on a SuperDrive, you get the joy of replacing the drive, not repairing it.

If there is a downside to the OWC, it's only cosmetic. It is one of those, "The 1990's called looking for their optical drive!" things. I am an engineer who will always chose function over form. The SuperDrive is beautiful but, for me, the appeal stops there.

Apple once had a program called iDVD for authoring home video DVDs. It had all sorts of great themes for menus. Unfortunately, Apple stopped developing it in 2011. I believe it was a 32-bit application, so even if by some miracle, it ran under Mojave, Catalina would have finished it off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDVD

I've always had good luck with the products from OWC (aka MacSales). Here's one that should work fine (I've not used that particular unit myself):

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MR3USD24/?srsltid=AfmBOoqycaLS77e5LGFZZ_6J5FNj92S5oMrkml_oizQCs10DV4Nslb_r_OI

As to software, the depends on what you want sort of DVD you want to burn. If you just want to burn data, you probably don't need additional software. See:

Store information on CD and DVD discs on Mac - Apple Support

If you want to create video DVDs, post back and someone can probably recommend something current and reliable.

Regards.

Pretty much any external DVD drive should work. They are universally standard.

For burning, if are looking to make only data discs, macOS can do so natively.

click here ➜ Store information on CD and DVD discs on Mac - Apple Support

If you are looking to burn video / movie DVDs that playback on a set-top DVD player, then you'll need a 3rd party DVD authoring app like Roxio Toast.