Pair your Apple Remote with your Mac

Do you live or work in an environment with lots of Intel Macs and their respective remotes? If so, then you’ll probably want to read this. All Apple Remotes come generically programmed with your Mac, so any remote will control any Intel Mac. As you simultaneously launch three different copies of Front Row upon the pressing of one remote button, you may realize that this could be a problem. Luckily, Apple realized this and has a solution. It’s simply to pair your Apple Remote with your Mac:

1. Invade your Mac’s personal space by getting up close to it (about 3 or 4 inches away).
2. Point the remote at the infrared receiver on the front of your Mac.
3. Press and hold the Menu and Next/Fast-forward buttons simultaneously on the remote for 5 seconds.
4. Your Apple Remote is now paired with your computer. You can tell the remote is paired because you will see a chain-link style lock.

To unpair the remote simply launch System Preferences and open Security. Then click Unpair in the Security pane. Happy pairing!