// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 36GB run Swallow?

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

Swallow on the Apple M3 Max 36GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 469k 1457.1-1757.1 t/s ~48.6-58.6 (slow)
Q8 yes 470k 2914.3-3514.3 t/s ~97.1-117.1 (slow)
Q4 yes 471k 5204.1-6275.5 t/s ~173.5-209.2 (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 Swallow?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~5204.1-6275.5 tok/s and fits up to 471k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~173.5-209.2 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 471k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.