MacBooks have been using remotes since at least 2005. There was a cinema app on there you could use to watch movies and use the remote to control it. I think you could use it with Keynote when it first came out too.
It was great with the Mac mini. The actual Apple TV had its limitations, but with a Mac mini I had Front Row, plus a host of other media apps. I also had an app that would let me control everything with the IR remote they came with it. That was back when they still came with an optical drive as well, so I could also play (and rip) DVDs.
iMac G5s too! They even had a spot on their right side which was magnetic where the remote from that era could be stuck when not in use. My 20” iMac G5 doubled nicely as a TV in my high school years (and the 27” model with its dramatically nicer IPS panel even better in my college years).
Ah good old days when I was in college and used to use my 2006 White Polycarbonate MacBook with the said remote as a glorified DVD player to play movies I'd rent from Blockbuster. Can't believe that was 20 years ago
I love this feature. There's this app, "Remote Buddy", that's lets you specify custom behavior for the various Apple Remote buttons. Since by default only a few of the buttons control anything.
The first MacBook Pro included a remote in the box to control Front Row - a sort of proto-Apple TV app.