// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M3 Max 48GB run Modello Italia 9B?

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

Modello Italia 9B on the Apple M3 Max 48GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 181k 15.1-18.2 t/s ~0.4-0.5 (slow)
Q8 yes 249k 30.2-36.4 t/s ~0.8-0.9 (slow)
Q4 yes 280k 54-65.1 t/s ~1.3-1.6 (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 Modello Italia 9B?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~54-65.1 tok/s and fits up to 280k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~1.3-1.6 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 280k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.