// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M2 Max 32GB run BART-large?

Yes โ€” here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.

BART-large on the Apple M2 Max 32GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 404k 334.7-403.7 t/s ~8.4-10.1 (slow)
Q8 yes 410k 669.5-807.3 t/s ~16.7-20.2 (slow)
Q4 yes 413k 1195.5-1441.6 t/s ~29.9-36 (slow)

Estimate (memory-bound). Beyond "max context" the KV cache spills to SSD swap and speed drops to the "beyond" figure.

FAQ

Can the Apple M2 Max 32GB run BART-large?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~1195.5-1441.6 tok/s and fits up to 413k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~29.9-36 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 413k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.