// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M4 Max 128GB run Llama 3.2 3B?

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

Llama 3.2 3B on the Apple M4 Max 128GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 1637k 57.8-69.7 t/s ~1.1-1.3 (slow)
Q8 yes 1686k 115.7-139.5 t/s ~2.1-2.6 (slow)
Q4 yes 1707k 206.5-249.1 t/s ~3.8-4.6 (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 M4 Max 128GB run Llama 3.2 3B?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~206.5-249.1 tok/s and fits up to 1707k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~3.8-4.6 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 1707k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.