// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M4 Max 36GB run mBART-50?

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

mBART-50 on the Apple M4 Max 36GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 453k 304.3-367 t/s ~5.6-6.7 (slow)
Q8 yes 462k 608.7-734 t/s ~11.1-13.4 (slow)
Q4 yes 466k 1086.9-1310.7 t/s ~19.9-24 (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 36GB run mBART-50?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~1086.9-1310.7 tok/s and fits up to 466k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~19.9-24 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 466k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.