MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GBBudget pick
C141.1 tok/s decode
~$2,499 MSRP
Can it run?
Runs well
Using Q4_K_M in Ollama
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
71.0 tok/s
TTFT
2725 ms
Safe context
51K
Memory
7.3 GB / 23.0 GB
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic Coding | C | Runs well | 76.5 tok/s | 3681 ms | 99K |
| Chat | C | Runs well | 76.5 tok/s | 1380 ms | 25K |
| Coding | C | Runs well | 71.0 tok/s | 2725 ms | 51K |
| RAG | C | Runs well | 76.5 tok/s | 4601 ms | 99K |
| Reasoning | C | Runs well | 76.5 tok/s | 2991 ms | 51K |
How Qwen2.5 3B Instruct (3B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB (23.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 1.2 GB | Low | D31 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 1.5 GB | Low | D31 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Upgrade options
~$2,499 MSRP
1.7 GB |
| Medium |
| D31 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 1.8 GB | Medium | D31 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 2.2 GB | High | D31 |
Q6_K | 6 | 2.5 GB | High | D32 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 3.2 GB | Very High | D32 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 6.1 GB | Maximum | D35 |