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Can the Apple M4 Max 48GB run ESM3-open-small?
Yes โ here's how fast and up to what context, with real measured numbers.
ESM3-open-small on the Apple M4 Max 48GB
| Quant | Fits? | Max context | Speed | Beyond context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | yes | 594k | 132.6-159.9 t/s | ~2.4-2.9 (slow) |
| Q8 | yes | 615k | 265.2-319.8 t/s | ~4.9-5.9 (slow) |
| Q4 | yes | 624k | 473.6-571.1 t/s | ~8.7-10.5 (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 48GB run ESM3-open-small?โถ
Yes. At Q4 it generates ~473.6-571.1 tok/s and fits up to 624k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~8.7-10.5 tok/s.
How much context fits?โถ
At Q4, up to about 624k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.