ISO files are disk image files, which means they represent the contents of an entire storage device, like a CD disk or a USB drive. You can think of them as a “virtual disks”; indeed, this is how MacOS treats them. If you’ve ever worked with ISO images in the past, you know that MacOS mounts these files the same way it mounts physical storage devices. This means that, if you want to put an ISO file on a disk, you cannot copy it directly. This would simply result in your disk containing another, virtual, disk. And the results, unfortunately, will not be usable. To store the contents of your ISO on a disk properly, you need to “burn” them onto the disk. This is just a technical term, of course; no actual combustion is involved. A program that performs this operation is called an ISO burner, and there are many to choose from. So, we’ve prepared a list of best ISO burner programs on Mac, to let you know which one you should use.
Use WonderShare DVD Creator
WonderShare DVD Creator is one of the most powerful ISO burners for Mac, capable of burning CD, DVD and Blu-Ray disks. It supports all types of disks: video, audio, and data. It also includes many powerful features that are not available in simpler burner programs. For one, it can easily edit video disks with a built-in editor, create DVD menus, and add video chapters and subtitles. It can also be used to rip CD and DVD disks, as well as create ISO images from files. Although DVD Creator is a paid program, it will save you plenty of time in the long run. And since there is a free trial available, you can check whether it fits your use-case or not without paying a dime.
Use a program included with MacOS
In some scenarios, you might not need to use a third-party ISO burner for Mac at all. MacOS provides it users with some tools that can burn ISOs onto disks out-of-the-box, though they have certain limitations.
Use Finder
Finder, the file manager bundled with MacOS, has the ability to burn ISO files. To do this, right-click on your ISO file, then select Burn Disk Image [NAME OF YOUR FILE] to Disc…. After you’ve done this, insert an empty CD or DVD disk into your Mac, and press Burn in the dialog menu that will appear. Wait for the process to finish, and… that’s it, you’re done! This feature is very useful, and it’s not limited to ISO files either; you can burn .DMG files this way, too. It is also capable of burning bootable images; simply put, this means it is capable of creating disks you can install operating systems from.
But, as you might have noticed, this method has one – unfortunately rather fatal – flaw. It can only be used to burn ISO on CD and DVD disks, and very few people use them these days. If you want to burn ISO on USB, you will have to use another method.
Use Terminal
Terminal is a command line interface (CLI) application that also comes pre-installed with MacOS. It allows you to interact with the OS in a way that is very different from the norm. Normally, you interact with MacOS by clicking on icons, opening windows, pressing on-screen buttons, and so on. That is known as graphical user interface (GUI). Command line interface, meanwhile, allows you to directly tell the OS what to do by typing in a command or a sequence of commands. This is powerful, but also difficult for beginners. This is why we will not explain how to use Terminal to burn images in this guide; the process is quite involved, and we’ve got other ISO burners for Mac to cover. If you’re interested in this option, there are many guides online which you can use.
Use a third-party ISO to USB burner for Mac
As Finder already provides a great way to burn ISO to CD or DVD, most third-party ISO burners for Mac focus on either extra features – like aforementioned WonderShare DVD Creator and WinZip do – or on the ability to burn ISO to USB. To be more specific, programs in the latter group focus on the ability to create bootable USB drives (drives that you can install an OS from).
Use balenaEtcher
Etcher, also known by its full name balenaEtcher, is a very straightforward and easy-to-use application. Indeed, its website specifically says that Etcher was purposefully made simple; simple enough that it could be recommended to anyone. Well, this is exactly what we’re doing – recommending it. Etcher is easily the best ISO to USB burner app for Mac out there; no other program comes even close to it in terms of simplicity. And it’s completely free, too.
Use UNetBootin
UNetBootin is an open-source application that was made primarily to create Linux installation drives, though it can be used to burn any ISO to a USB. To do this, install UNetBootin from its website and open the program. Then, select the Diskimage option and choose ISO in the drop-down menu. Click on the … button to select your ISO image, then select your USB drive from the drop-down menu that says Drive. Finally, click OK and wait for the process to finish. The screenshot above describes the process in a more visual manner; use it if you’re confused by text-only instructions.
Summary
If you want to burn an ISO to a CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray, WonderShare DVD Creator is probably the best program for you. However, if you just need to quickly burn one ISO file, you can also make do with Finder, the file manager built into macOS. Using balenaEtcher, meanwhile, is the best way to burn ISO to a USB. We also have other articles similar to this one. In the past, we have reviewed several data recovery programs for Mac, considered best alternatives to WhatsApp, and explained how to download video from YouTube on Mac. If you liked this article so much that you’ve read it all the way to the end, you should consider reading them as well.