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Can the Apple M2 Ultra 64GB run Pythia-1b?
Yes โ here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
Pythia-1b on the Apple M2 Ultra 64GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | yes | 826k | 272-328 t/s | ~3.4-4.1 (slow) |
| Q8 | yes | 841k | 544-656 t/s | ~6.8-8.2 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 847k | 971.4-1171.4 t/s | ~12.1-14.6 (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 Ultra 64GB run Pythia-1b?โถ
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~971.4-1171.4 tok/s and fits up to 847k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~12.1-14.6 tok/s.
How much context fits?โถ
At Q4, up to about 847k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.