Recommendation for USB IR Receiver for MBP Retina late 2013 to work with Apple Remote

[richsad]

I have a MacBook Pro Retina late 2013 (10,1) running OS X 10.9.1. This is the first MBP I've ever had with no IR Receiver. I have an Apple Remote (about 3 years old). Would love to find a USB IR Receiver that works with the Apple Remote. I realize this is possible an impossible thing. I've seen IR Receiver that claim to be OS X compatible but it isn't clear whether they'd work with Apple Remote and whether they would correctly control iTunes.

Does any have any first hand experience with a product that works for this use case? I always liked the ability to control the machines volume from across the room. The world won't end if I can't do it but it's worth asking!

I'm disappointed Apple didn't include an IR port on this model of MBP.

 

[ecschwarz]

Let me direct you to this response I shared: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/18911635/

 

[richsad]

Fantastic!

Thank's a bunch. That looks easy enough.
-rich

 

[ecschwarz]

Thank's a bunch. That looks easy enough.
-rich

The toughest thing may be finding the IR board - it seems Apple changed them on the unibody MacBook Pros - it seems some have a white cable instead of a yellow one, so that's the only color that won't match up exactly - I'm not the only one who's done that:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36721488@N00/387287311/

 

[richsad]

Got it working

Just checking back in. I found two IR boards. One was effectively new and the other used. Both work fine when I soldered them to a stripped USB cable. I plug them into my USB hub and voila! I have remote capabilities again. It's been a while since I bought them but I believe I found both on ebay and they only cost a couple bucks.

Thanks so much for the help.

 

[lipton5001]

I've made a quick video on how to wire up / make an adapter from one of the old originally built-in IR receivers; hope it helps