// RUN โ€” FITS

Can the Apple M4 Max 48GB run Phi-4-Multimodal?

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

Phi-4-Multimodal on the Apple M4 Max 48GB

QuantFits?Max contextSpeedBeyond context
FP16 yes 233k 33.2-40 t/s ~0.6-0.7 (slow)
Q8 yes 275k 66.3-80 t/s ~1.2-1.5 (slow)
Q4 yes 294k 118.4-142.8 t/s ~2.2-2.6 (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 48GB run Phi-4-Multimodal?โ–ถ

Yes. At Q4 it generates ~118.4-142.8 tok/s and fits up to 294k context; beyond that it spills to SSD swap and slows to ~2.2-2.6 tok/s.

How much context fits?โ–ถ

At Q4, up to about 294k tokens stay in fast memory; longer context spills to SSD swap and throughput collapses.