Question 1

Can MacBook Air M3 24GB run Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0?

Accepted Answer

Yes, MacBook Air M3 24GB can run Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0 with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 68.3 tok/s.

Question 2

How much VRAM does Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0 need?

Accepted Answer

Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0 (1B parameters) requires approximately 5.4 GB of memory with Q6_K quantization.

Question 3

What is the best quantization for Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0?

Accepted Answer

The recommended quantization for Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0 is Q6_K, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	71.4 tok/s	3944 ms	102K
Chat	C	Runs well	71.4 tok/s	1479 ms	26K
Coding	C	Runs well	68.3 tok/s	2837 ms	51K
RAG	C	Runs well	71.4 tok/s	4930 ms	102K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	71.4 tok/s	3204 ms	51K

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	0.4 GB	Low	D30
Q3_K_S	3	0.5 GB	Low	D30
NVFP4	4

Can MacBook Air M3 24GB run Llama 3.2 1B Instruct Q8 0?

Memory breakdown