Wednesday, October 27, 2004, 12:00 pm

Apple ends optical drive enhancement program for iBooks

By AppleInsider Staff

Apple Computer is ending a limited time offer that gave customers who own iBooks with a combo optical drive the opportunity to enhance their optical drive performance by swapping out their existing failed optical drive for a faster performing optical drive, reliable sources tell AppleInsider.

"Only like-for-like combo optical drives will now be accepted by Apple for exchanges," the company said in a message to relevant parties in the US, Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

Apple began the optical drive enhancement program in January, after discovering that a batch of faulty optical drives had found their way into a mix of iBook configurations. The discontinuation of the program is effective immediately, the company said.