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// RUN — FITS
Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run Pythia-6.9b?
Yes — here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
Pythia-6.9b on the Apple M3 Max 36GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | yes | 130k | 14.8-17.8 t/s | ~0.5-0.6 (slow) |
| Q8 | yes | 183k | 29.6-35.7 t/s | ~1-1.2 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 206k | 52.8-63.7 t/s | ~1.8-2.1 (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 Pythia-6.9b?▶
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~52.8-63.7 tok/s and fits up to 206k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~1.8-2.1 tok/s.
How much context fits?▶
At Q4, up to about 206k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.