// RUN — FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run Qwen2.5-Coder (1.5B)?

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

Qwen2.5-Coder (1.5B) on the Apple M3 Max 36GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 424k 66.2-79.9 t/s ~2.2-2.7 (slow)
Q8 yes 448k 132.5-159.7 t/s ~4.4-5.3 (slow)
Q4 yes 458k 236.5-285.3 t/s ~7.9-9.5 (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 → Qwen2.5-Coder (1.5B) specs → Other hardware

FAQ

Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run Qwen2.5-Coder (1.5B)?▶

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~236.5-285.3 tok/s and fits up to 458k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~7.9-9.5 tok/s.

How much context fits?▶

At Q4, up to about 458k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.