// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 48GB run Contriever?

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

Contriever on the Apple M3 Max 48GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 633k 1236.4-1490.9 t/s ~30.9-37.3 (slow)
Q8 yes 635k 2472.7-2981.8 t/s ~61.8-74.5 (slow)
Q4 yes 635k 4415.6-5324.7 t/s ~110.4-133.1 (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 Contriever?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~4415.6-5324.7 tok/s and fits up to 635k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~110.4-133.1 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.