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Front Row / IR Remote and the Mac Pro

krye

krye

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 21, 2007
1,606
1
USA
I'm about to drop $3000 on a Mac Pro, and it amazes me that the IR feature that is in their entry level Mac Mini and MacBooks is not in their top-of-the-line Workstations. Why has Apple not included an IR sensor for use with the Apple remote? Does Apple think that Pro uses won't want to use Front Row on their Pro machines? Besides, I can think of a ton of other uses for the remote other than just Front Row. And using the keyboard stinks.

What are you guys doing? Has anyone come up with a solution? How can I use the Apple remote with a Mac Pro?

Also, while we're at it, Apple killed the iSight camera a while ago. What are you to do if you have a Mac Pro with a Cinema Display?
 
I may have answered my own question...

For anyone else interested in adding Apple Remote functionality to their $3000 Mac, check out....

http://twistedmelon.com/mira/

I was hoping, however for a more home-brew attack. Perhaps getting an IR sensor out of broken Mac on eBay an doing some sort of USB hack.

Any ideas?
 
I forgot about the Mira...

It would be nice if this were a part of the new Apple Cinema Displays... it wouldn't be that difficult or expensive for Apple to add it and it would make a great selling feature.
 
Taking a peek on their web site (Mira), it appears as if they have a software ($15 CAN), then the Hardware ($20 CAN + shipping + 4 week wait time) and you have to buy the remote from Amazon ($22 USD + shipping). I guess if you wanted to go with just the hardware, you're looking at about $50 after shipping, etc...
 
ErikAndre said:
Taking a peek on their web site (Mira), it appears as if they have a software ($15 CAN), then the Hardware ($20 CAN + shipping + 4 week wait time) and you have to buy the remote from Amazon ($22 USD + shipping). I guess if you wanted to go with just the hardware, you're looking at about $50 after shipping, etc...
Click to expand...


$50. That's the thing. It seems like this should be a trip to Radio Shack and a $2.00 part. Solder it to an old USB cable and BOOM!
 
It looks like someone did just what I'm looking for. They made their own USB to IR receiver adaptor:

http://flickr.com/photos/markusf/387287311/

Now, what are the odds of getting my hads on one of those? I'll have to do a little more digging to see if one can be built from alternate parts.
 
If one really wanted to do this, a bottom chassis for a Macbook can be picked up on eBay for $20 and up. You can then rip the IR reciever out of the chassis.
 
ErikAndre said:
It would be nice if this were a part of the new Apple Cinema Displays... it wouldn't be that difficult or expensive for Apple to add it and it would make a great selling feature.
Click to expand...

Good point - let's hope Apple includes IR and an iSight camera in the next range of displays. It's ridiculous that I have a new 8-core Mac Pro and yet I have to get out my MacBook to make an iChat video call.
 
bilbo--baggins said:
Good point - let's hope Apple includes IR and an iSight camera in the next range of displays. It's ridiculous that I have a new 8-core Mac Pro and yet I have to get out my MacBook to make an iChat video call.
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought as soon as the iSight for use with Cinema Displays and G5s was discontinued, we'd see new Cinema Displays with build in IR and iSights. What is Apple waiting for? However, I do hope they come out with another option. I'm not buying a new 30" just to use a remote and a web cam.

It seems Apple thinks that the Mac Pro is used 100% for busines and that anything requiring a remote or webcam is "goofing off". I'm not using the Mac Pro for business or work. I just want the most powerful Mac they sell.

Don't Mac Pro business users use the remote for Keynote presentations and the iSight for business conference chats? I just don't get why those two simple options are not on their high end machines.
 
krye said:
Yes, I thought as soon as the iSight for use with Cinema Displays and G5s was discontinued, we'd see new Cinema Displays with build in IR and iSights. What is Apple waiting for? However, I do hope they come out with another option. I'm not buying a new 30" just to use a remote and a web cam.

It seems Apple thinks that the Mac Pro is used 100% for busines and that anything requiring a remote or webcam is "goofing off". I'm not using the Mac Pro for business or work. I just want the most powerful Mac they sell.

Don't Mac Pro business users use the remote for Keynote presentations and the iSight for business conference chats? I just don't get why those two simple options are not on their high end machines.
Click to expand...

i dont think business users really use mac pros, just overkill, its really a work station, video editing station / 3d animation station, so in a static location, hence no i.r or wifi.
 
I think Mac Pros are used quite a lot in the audio world. Software like Main Stage, or Logic Pro would probably benefit from the IR sensor. Might be easier to start recording, change patch or whatever with the Apple Remote rather than the keyboard. For such a simple feature, I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities for it to benefit a strictly 'pro user'.

For the Mac Pro, I think it would actually make more sense having the sensor on the display rather than the tower, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the next revision of displays.
 
I just got the keyspan, and it works great so far -- hit menu and front row comes up, etc. It's plugged into the usb hub on my monitor, works flawlessly, and has enough range throughout the room I'm using it in.
 
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