14 DAY TRIAL // Well, what do you know? In upgrading its lineup of MacBooks, Apple has forgotten to throw in the Apple Remote, previously found inside the box with every bought MacBook/MacBook Pro. The remote is now optional, as with the company's latest introduced laptop, the ultra-thin MacBook Air.
"Looking at the 'What's In The Box' contents for the new MacBooks (Penryn), the Apple Remote is no longer included in the contents. Further, the $19 Apple Remote now shows up as an option in the Configure To Order listing," posts Mark on Apple Discussions. "Hopefully, this is a mistake! Surely Apple isn't so cheap as to not include the remote?!"
Well, Mark, as much as we hate that Apple pulled the fast one on MacBook fans, that $19 remote would have cost Apple quite a bit of cash. Think about it. Guys over at the Cupertino labs struggled to upgrade whatever they could with the MacBook and MacBook Pro, but still remain faithful to the original pricing.
The Pro, for instance, sports the elusive Intel (Penryn) processor, a bigger hard drive, more RAM, and a bunch of added features. The 15-inch display, 2.4GHz processor and 200GB hard disk model sounds much better with the same $1,999 price tag, wouldn't you say?
Still, that's no excuse for Apple not to say anything about the lacking remote, mentioning it loud and clear in a report or something. Suppose someone goes to the store with "updated MacBook" in mind, knowing that the remote is included. That guy feels like crap an hour later when he gets home and opens up the box to see a missing Apple remote. Hey wait, that's you!
Furthermore, considering the improvements with Front Row, it's even more of a mystery why Apple decided to exclude the remote, but again, it probably all comes down to the costs.