// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 128GB run Modello Italia 9B?

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

Modello Italia 9B on the Apple M3 Max 128GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 730k 15.1-18.2 t/s ~0.4-0.5 (slow)
Q8 yes 799k 30.2-36.4 t/s ~0.8-0.9 (slow)
Q4 yes 829k 54-65.1 t/s ~1.3-1.6 (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 M3 Max 128GB run Modello Italia 9B?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~54-65.1 tok/s and fits up to 829k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~1.3-1.6 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 829k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.