MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GBBudget pick
C89.8 tok/s decode
~$1,999 MSRP
Can it run?
Runs well
Using Q4_K_M in Ollama
Fit status
Runs well
Decode
63.9 tok/s
TTFT
3028 ms
Safe context
37K
Memory
4.9 GB / 11.5 GB
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic Coding | C | Runs well | 70.8 tok/s | 3976 ms | 75K |
| Chat | C | Runs well | 70.8 tok/s | 1491 ms | 19K |
| Coding | C | Runs well | 63.9 tok/s | 3028 ms | 37K |
| RAG | C | Runs well | 70.8 tok/s | 4970 ms | 75K |
| Reasoning | C | Runs well | 70.8 tok/s | 3231 ms | 37K |
How Gemmasutra Mini 2B v1 (2B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M4 16GB (11.5 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 0.8 GB | Low | D31 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 1.0 GB | Low | D31 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Upgrade options
~$1,999 MSRP
1.1 GB |
| Medium |
| D31 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 1.2 GB | Medium | D32 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 1.4 GB | High | D32 |
Q6_K | 6 | 1.6 GB | High | D32 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 2.1 GB | Very High | D33 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 4.1 GB | Maximum | D37 |