// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 48GB run ChemBERTa?

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

ChemBERTa on the Apple M3 Max 48GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 632k 1088-1312 t/s ~27.2-32.8 (slow)
Q8 yes 634k 2176-2624 t/s ~54.4-65.6 (slow)
Q4 yes 635k 3885.7-4685.7 t/s ~97.1-117.1 (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 48GB run ChemBERTa?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~3885.7-4685.7 tok/s and fits up to 635k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~97.1-117.1 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 635k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.