How to Play Blu-Ray Movies on a Mac Using VLC (Apple Silicon and Intel)
Since macOS does not natively support Blu-Ray playback, the best solution is VLC, an open-source video player that has been around for nearly 25 years. However, you cannot simply insert a disc and expect it to play. Video playback relies on libaacs, for Advanced Access Content System, the digital rights management system used by Blu-Ray and the now-defunct HD-DVD format.
Tutorial starts at the 5 minute mark
However, libaacs does not offer any keys or certificates to decode encrypted media, leading us into a legally grey area. So, let's walk through the process.
Step 1: Download and Install VLC
Go to the VLC media player's website and download and install VLC.
Step 2: Install HomeBrew & Libaacs
Homebrew is a command-line interface package manager utility. Think of it as an app store for open-source command-line software. Go to brew.sh and run the curl command by copying and pasting it into your macOS terminal. Once it's installed, you can test to see if it's working by typing brew
into the terminal.
After installing Homebrew, run brew install libaacs
to install libaacs.
Step 3: Download the keydb.cfg
This step's legality is uncertain, but you can go to the FindVUK Online Database and download the keydb.cfg file (decompress it if it doesn't automatically). You'll need to search for it yourself, but it's easily accessible.
Open ~/Library/Preferences (navigate to your user directory, open Library, and then Preferences). If you do not see your library, you may need to unhide it; Lifewire has a good tutorial.
Create a new folder in the Preferences folder called aacs (all lowercase) and drag the keydb.cfg file into it.
Nerd shortcut: mkdir ~/Library/Preferences/aacs
and use the cp command to move the keydb.cfg to this directory.
Step 4: Copying Over Libaacs' Alias for VLC
The last step varies depending on whether you have an Apple Silicon or an Intel Mac. In the terminal, you can type brew --prefix
to find where Homebrew is installed on your Mac.
Navigate to the root of your boot drive and press Command-Shift-Period to display hidden files.
Go to the directory specified from brew --prefix
. If your Mac shows the opt
directory, open the Homebrew folder.
Next, open Cellar
, then libaacs
. In this folder, there should be a version number like 0.11
. Open the lib
directory and find the libaacs.dylib file and copy it.
For Apple Silicon Macs, you will need to go to /opt/homebrew/cellar/libaacs
, and for Intel Macs, go to /usr/local/homebrew/cellar/libaacs
.
Paste (or copy) the libaacs.dylib file into /usr/local/lib
.
Step 5: Open VLC and Play the Disc
That's it! You're now ready to enjoy your Blu-Ray movies on your Mac.