Apple updates $19 Remote, predictably coats it in aluminum

Apple's Remote -- which it stopped throwing in with its MacBook Pro machines awhile back -- has also seen a refresh today, ditching the iconic glossy white vibe now associated with the company's lower-end consumer machines and instead donning an all-aluminum coat to match the Mac Pro, MacBook and MacBook Pro range. As always, it's designed to control your iPod, iPhone or Mac from afar, with play / pause, menu, volume and track skip buttons at the ready. If you're looking to use it with your iPod or iPhone, you'll need an iPod Universal Dock ($49) and a device with a dock connector; if you're using it with your Mac, you'll need a compatible machine introduced in 2005 or later with an integrated IR receiver. It'll ship in two to four weeks for $19.

[M Posted Oct 20th 2009 12:59PM]

this would have made a beautiful iPod Shuffle instead of that buttonless piece of crap it's now...

[NaJaKwa Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:01PM]

i couldn't agree more.

[zman Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:02PM]

I agree. But there is something a tad bit weird about this design that I dont like. I cant put my finger on exactly what it is, though.

[Oli D Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:04PM]

I dont like that the buttons are all separate instead of Ipod Classic style

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:09PM]

Really? I think this thing looks as ugly as sin.

[Acey Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:19PM]

It may look ugly but it looks much better than the latest shuffle

[Mmmm Donuts Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:32PM]

It bugs me that the play/pause and center/select button are now separate buttons for no apparent reason. I mean, come on, adding buttons? Doesn't that explode the iWorld or something?

[IBrian Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:00PM]

I just feel that they should have added a mic for voice control or a genius button. That would have been awesome and totally worth $20.

[Dreamer Posted Oct 20th 2009 3:04PM]

maybe later they will release a new apple tv too

[zman Posted Oct 20th 2009 12:59PM]

Damn, Apple has really unveiled lots of stuff today!

[Mr Blue Posted Oct 20th 2009 4:13PM]

Yeah, they unveiled how they made $1.67b in profit.

By charging $19 for a remote.

[Oli D Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:02PM]

Hmm i don't like this much.

I dont like the fact its not free anymore either, what the deuce?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:08PM]

It's weird that there is no apple logo on it!

[trainwrecka Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:55PM]

true. doesn't make a lot of sense.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:31PM]

Well it is one of the ugliest products Apples released

[MrAffrox Posted Oct 20th 2009 3:54PM]

Now that Steve Jobs is no longer CEO of Disney, Apple can make awkward designs based on an upside-down an Mickey Mouse with its ears chopped off.

I'll have to see this in person, but as of right now, I'm liking my plastic remote.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:10PM]

Why is the play pause button not in the middle of the controller?
It is almost like apple tried to make it feel like it had more buttons?

[bartonsmith Posted Oct 21st 2009 5:34AM]

I assume the separate play/pause button is so that when you are in the menus of Front Row, you can still pause the music without having to navigate back into the song. Something I've been wanting for a while now.

[abugida Posted Oct 21st 2009 8:32AM]

Because the scrollwheel/clickwheel was invented for the iPod, and isn't necessarily the best solution for a big screen remote, especially for the Apple TV. It also seems that Apple made the remote bigger (taller), so if there's more space anyway, why not separate the buttons? I hated the old Apple Remote ever since Apple started throwing them after customers in 2005, and I think this is a step in the right direction. Jump another 4 years forward and it will probably be replaced by an iPod Touch-like device.

[xJuice Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:12PM]

It just works...

If you buy the latest equipment that might happen to be compatible with it...

[elbryanto Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:35PM]

I don't know where you're from but where I'm from, we don't consider stuff that came out before 2005 "latest".

[Aaron CT Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:15PM]

Eww. Aluminum? When I think of remotes, I think of watching TV in bed. Grabbing this during the winter would be cold as all get out.

[MrPaulRyan Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:17PM]

Wow, that's ugly.

[dvturner Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:16PM]

My chief gripe with this little remote is that its IR instead of RF or Bluetooth. Makes it a bit challenging to use during a presentation when you're not directly facing your mac of choice.

[abugida Posted Oct 21st 2009 8:34AM]

Probably for the battery.

[Sirius Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:19AM]

I found it's actually not too bad.. it works if you can bounce the IR signal off a wall; I once used it with the back of my macbook facing me. Sorta like projector remotes that work when you point it at the wall it's projecting off. And yea, with IR, it's not using any power when unused, yet works instantly with no startup time, unlike when you use BT or RF..

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:32PM]

But will it work with the Apple TV?

[TristanP Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:32PM]

I would like to know this as well.

[Chroma Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:31PM]

I'm glad they changed the battery acess, I never was able to change the batter in the previous design, I just swaped the remote with another of the other 100,00 apple remotes I have in my home.

[michaspi Posted Oct 20th 2009 7:29PM]

There's one button you press on the old remote. The battery tray pops out.

Is it really that difficult?

[Humzanity Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:20AM]

You're kidding, right?

[UnixSystemsEngineer Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:33PM]

Which would be sweet if I could control a Mac Pro with it...
(waiting to see if anyone chimes in with a new-and-improved IR receiver setup for the mac pro)

[LUISAMEZQUITA Posted Oct 20th 2009 6:34PM]

I agree. I have a Mac Pro. You would think apple would give you the option to add on a few bucks to the already premium price of the Mac Pro to install an IR sensor with the airport and bluetooth. Or I don't know, just make the remote use bluetooth or wifi...make a remote that EVERYONE of your products can use.

I'm thinking though that its because the Mac Pro doesn't support the latest version of Front Row? or is that only the apple TV?

[ran Posted Oct 21st 2009 1:00AM]

@Luis: Command-Esc activate Front Row.

[Sirius Posted Oct 22nd 2009 5:22AM]

I think someone got it to work using a vanilla USB IR receiver.. I agree tho, how come Apple doesn't have it as an option? Aren't 'professionals' allowed to watch movies on their much-more-powerful-than-imacbooks Mac Pro?

[NohOne Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:37PM]

So many buttons, there should be only one. That many buttons would make it too confusing for the average person to use.

/sarc

[Oli D Posted Oct 20th 2009 5:35PM]

One button that just says SATISFACTION

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:52PM]

Why not Bluetooth!?!? Ugh! Come on Apple!

[trainwrecka Posted Oct 20th 2009 1:57PM]

Anything is better than IR.

[FlyersPh9 Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:33PM]

Engadget didn't post my comment for some reason. -__-

Anyways, what I was saying was I think having the remote be JUST bluetooth would have been equally bad. However, had they made it Bluetooth & IR all in one, that would be one killer remote!

[mastassmasta Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:01PM]

Step 1: Release hot product in plastic
Step 2: Release slightly better product in aluminum
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit!

I should start an apple competitor

[Dale P Posted Oct 20th 2009 2:14PM]

Call them Banana, I checked and there is no similarly-named music company that can sue you!

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 20th 2009 3:05PM]

iBatterycoveropener for only $29.99!


Wait, this has replaceable batteries? :O

[MrAffrox Posted Oct 20th 2009 3:56PM]

The old one did too.

[Humzanity Posted Oct 22nd 2009 12:16AM]

You're kidding, right?

[leafflash Posted Oct 20th 2009 3:19PM]

When Apple first introduced the aluminum iMac, they were too thin to hold the apple remote on the side with a magnet (which was really neat from the plastic iMacs). Now that these are thin, will they sit on the side of the new iMacs?

But MAN! Why does it have to be so tall? Are there so many electronics in the bottom 60% of this thing that it has to be so long? And tell me again why the pause/play isn't in the middle of the arrows like it used to be?

[LUISAMEZQUITA Posted Oct 20th 2009 6:38PM]

Most likely the thing is so small and thin that apple added length to it so that it was more comfortable to hold in the hand. We all don't have baby hands to hold something the size of the shuffle.

I would like to see this in a comparison with the old remote to get a sense of any size differences. I would guess its not any longer than the original, just thinner.

[nlschlax Posted Oct 21st 2009 12:19AM]

I suspect that aluminum on aluminum would be pretty scratchy...

[abugida Posted Oct 21st 2009 8:43AM]

I never found that feature neat on the old iMacs. The remote would fall down whenever I tried handling the USB or Firewie ports at the back of the unit. Also, it didn't hang quite straight.

[blash Posted Oct 20th 2009 4:32PM]

This is worth a separate article?

Really? A remote?