// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M2 Max 96GB run NLLB?

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

NLLB on the Apple M2 Max 96GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 no โ€” โ€” โ€”
Q8 yes 93k 5-6 t/s ~0.1-0.2 (slow)
Q4 yes 166k 8.9-10.7 t/s ~0.2-0.3 (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 96GB run NLLB?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~8.9-10.7 tok/s and fits up to 166k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~0.2-0.3 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 166k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.