I am going to be playing around with the Kinect v2 and I know I'm going to want to try 3D scanning areas that are not just my room. I intend to scan the outdoors mainly. So this brings me to requiring a powerful laptop. I really don't want to buy a Windows laptop, I want a Mac laptop. I could use an open source API for Kinect, that works on Mac but it seems to be quite slow and obviously won't be as robust as Microsoft's official SDK.
Am I correct in thinking that it's possible to install Windows on a Mac, and run Windows natively (without running in a VM) on the hardware (with the help of Boot Camp perhaps)?
Would the Mac's GPU work correctly while using Windows? Would the Windows drivers work for them?
The last concern I have is if the Mac's USB 3.0 chipset will work fine with the Kinect (it uses USB 3.0) when Windows is booted. Does anyone have any insight about this?
When I'm not using the Kinect, I will of course only be booting OSX. I have no intention to use the Mac laptop for Windows other than when I'm using the Kinect.
Best Answer
In short, yes, everything would work fine for you.
You would get a Windows license, and use Apple's native Boot Camp software to create a Windows partition. This runs completely off the hardware and without the need for a VM.
Part of the Boot Camp installation process is to install the correct Windows drivers for your Apple hardware, so the Mac's GPU and USB 3.0 ports should work.
As far as hardware goes, you would need a pretty good laptop and graphics card. I recommend Apple's MacBook Pro 15in with Retina Display.