// RUN — FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run Minitron 8B?

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

Minitron 8B on the Apple M3 Max 36GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 109k 12.3-14.8 t/s ~0.4-0.5 (slow)
Q8 yes 172k 24.6-29.6 t/s ~0.8-1 (slow)
Q4 yes 200k 43.9-52.9 t/s ~1.5-1.8 (slow)

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

→ All models on the Apple M3 Max 36GB → Minitron 8B specs → Other hardware

FAQ

Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run Minitron 8B?▶

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~43.9-52.9 tok/s and fits up to 200k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~1.5-1.8 tok/s.

How much context fits?▶

At Q4, up to about 200k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.