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// RUN — FITS
Can the Apple M3 Max 48GB run Mistral Small 3.1?
Yes — here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
Mistral Small 3.1 on the Apple M3 Max 48GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | no | — | — | — |
| Q8 | yes | 68k | 11.3-13.7 t/s | ~0.3-0.3 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 108k | 20.2-24.4 t/s | ~0.5-0.6 (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 Mistral Small 3.1?▶
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~20.2-24.4 tok/s and fits up to 108k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~0.5-0.6 tok/s.
How much context fits?▶
At Q4, up to about 108k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.