Need advice - pros/cons of this potential order

[theluggage]

I routinely hit 29 GB RAM usage so I figured 64GB would give me headroom

The "memory used" figure is pretty meaningless since MacOS will use spare memory to cache files etc. You need to look at the "memory pressure" and "swap used" (preferably 0 or something small) in Activity Monitor to see if you're running short of RAM. You pay a hefty premium for 64GB in a laptop.

4K on a 27-30" display is pretty good - not quite as pin-sharp as 5k but still head and shoulders above "standard def" - and if you've got good eyesight you'll be able to use it at 1:1 scale and get huge real estate (good luck with the MIDI Environment in Logic at that res, though... but it takes seconds to switch mode if you need it).

AFAIK the XDR is the only 6K display on the market, and there are precious few 'true' (i.e. not ultrawide) 5k displays other than the Apple/LG 27". If you really, really must have 5K+ on a 32" screen then, well, most of the criticism comes down to Apple trying to imply it was as good as a $20k reference display and the failure of the $1000 stand to fulfil the reasonable expectations of bringing you coffee and waffles in bed or, for that matter, even holding the display stable. Apart from that it's your money and I'm sure it would be fantastic to use (don't forget a pile of bricks to stand it on, though...)

However, I'd have thought that an ultra-wide 4k display would be pretty good for Logic, too... (maybe in a future version Apple will fix the MIDI environment editor or fix the default MIDI routing so you don't even have to go there...)

 

[ChromeCrescendo]

The "memory used" figure is pretty meaningless since MacOS will use spare memory to cache files etc. You need to look at the "memory pressure" and "swap used" (preferably 0 or something small) in Activity Monitor to see if you're running short of RAM. You pay a hefty premium for 64GB in a laptop.

4K on a 27-30" display is pretty good - not quite as pin-sharp as 5k but still head and shoulders above "standard def" - and if you've got good eyesight you'll be able to use it at 1:1 scale and get huge real estate (good luck with the MIDI Environment in Logic at that res, though... but it takes seconds to switch mode if you need it).

AFAIK the XDR is the only 6K display on the market, and there are precious few 'true' (i.e. not ultrawide) 5k displays other than the Apple/LG 27". If you really, really must have 5K+ on a 32" screen then, well, most of the criticism comes down to Apple trying to imply it was as good as a $20k reference display and the failure of the $1000 stand to fulfil the reasonable expectations of bringing you coffee and waffles in bed or, for that matter, even holding the display stable. Apart from that it's your money and I'm sure it would be fantastic to use (don't forget a pile of bricks to stand it on, though...)

However, I'd have thought that an ultra-wide 4k display would be pretty good for Logic, too... (maybe in a future version Apple will fix the MIDI environment editor or fix the default MIDI routing so you don't even have to go there...)

I had my first run-in with the MIDI Environment editor yesterday attempting to route a track, via IAC, back on itself so Logic would display the chord names as the MIDI track played -- well, it partially worked...Logic displayed about one-third of the chords and added distortion to the track lol

 

[throAU]

OK but what other true 5K monitor is out there in a size bigger than 27" -- if one exists I would surely purchase that instead

You seem to be hung up on 5k - but seriously, a 4k monitor at "bigger than you can fit on most desks" size is plenty for non video use and you won't see the chunkiness like with a non-retina class display.

Standing in front of my 4k 60" TV at 2-3 feet i can't see pixels... on a monitor half or even 2/3 that size at 2 feet away or more on a desk you just won't.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

There have been many threads on MacRumors disputing that. Many people, who are far more knowledgeable about tech matters than I am, say that the Mac OS will use whatever RAM you give it. So, if you had 8GB, it would likely use most of that; 16GB, most of it; etc.

From what I recall, the real measure is how much paging or use of the SSD or hard drive is going on. In other words, when RAM is really under pressure, the Mac OS uses drive space as virtual RAM. So, checking out what's going on with drive paging under Activity Monitor is far more important, indeed, is THE barometer of whether you need more RAM — not how much of the RAM you have is being used.

In addition, the Mac OS handles all this efficiently and the SSDs on Macs are very fast, so that, even with paging, it isn't that big a deal.

Perhaps the real question is whether you are experiencing lags, seeing spinning beach balls, etc. but even those can be due to other things, e.g., using Chrome and having lots of tabs open.

It's not about "disputing." I'm one of those who has frequently noted that macOS uses as much RAM as you have, because it doesn't release RAM-resident data/code until that space is required for current needs. The reason is, "Why get rid of something that may have to be fetched/loaded again, so long as nothing else needs the space?"

However, I did not go into detail as to how to use Activity Monitor to judge RAM usage. The appropriate tool is the Memory Pressure graph at the bottom of Activity Monitor > Memory.