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// RUN — FITS
Can the Apple M3 Max 48GB run DistilBERT?
Yes — here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
DistilBERT on the Apple M3 Max 48GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | yes | 634k | 2060.6-2484.8 t/s | ~51.5-62.1 (slow) |
| Q8 | yes | 635k | 4121.2-4969.7 t/s | ~103-124.2 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 636k | 7359.3-8874.5 t/s | ~184-221.9 (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 DistilBERT?▶
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~7359.3-8874.5 tok/s and fits up to 636k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~184-221.9 tok/s.
How much context fits?▶
At Q4, up to about 636k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.