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// RUN — FITS
Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run gpt-oss-20b?
Yes — here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
gpt-oss-20b on the Apple M3 Max 36GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | no | — | — | — |
| Q8 | yes | 38k | 9.8-11.8 t/s | ~0.3-0.4 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 73k | 17.4-21 t/s | ~0.6-0.7 (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 36GB run gpt-oss-20b?▶
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~17.4-21 tok/s and fits up to 73k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~0.6-0.7 tok/s.
How much context fits?▶
At Q4, up to about 73k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.