Region X For Mac

Apple is delivering its computers with region locked disc drives and if you own CDs that have different region codes, you are not able to actually play them using the same device. The region codes are used by media providers to control the world wide release of their products.

Apple allows you to change the region setting 5 times and then is locked to the region used the last time. To bypass this issue you must flash your drive’s firmware in order to make it region free. The process is not risk free, since it is not covered by warranty and could lead to rendering your drive useless.

To make your disc drive region free you must identify the firmware version (navigate to the “About this Mac” window, go to the “System Report” panel and under “Disc Burning” you can view the drive’s model and firmware revision). The next step is to find an appropriate firmware package patched to be region free.

Once you have that covered, the Region X application will take care of the rest. Note that the app does not work if you do not have a region free drive (it can detect the status of your drive and makes you quit if the condition is not met). Using the application with a region locked drive will lead to locking your drive. If that happens, Region X does not have the capability to unlock your drive.

However, if you manage to make you drive region free, Region X will then allow you to change the setting as many times as you like, to any of the 8 regions. Region X will also enable you to set up the default auto-start application.

Region X is extremely useful if you need to frequently change the region code of your disk drive, although meeting its requirements can be a bit of a challenge.