Apple · M4 Max · Desktop

Best AI Models for Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB)

Runs 27–31B and 120B MoE models well; dense 70B fits but is slow at 8 tok/s.

128 GB unified124.5 GB for models546 GB/s34 TFLOPS FP16145 W2025

Buy$3,499

Memory

36 GB$2,499 48 GB64 GB$2,699 128 GB$3,499

Same chip in

Mac Studio$3,499 MacBook Pro 16"MacBook Pro 14"

What LLMs can the Mac Studio M4 Max run?

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB · 18.7 t/s	18.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
4	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 75.8 t/s	75.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB
5	NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 70.5 t/s	70.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB · 18.7 t/s	18.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
3	Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB · 64.2 t/s	64.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
4	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 75.8 t/s	75.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB
5	NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 70.5 t/s	70.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB · 18.7 t/s	18.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
3	Qwen3.5 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
4	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 75.8 t/s	75.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB
5	NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 70.5 t/s	70.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB

#	Model	Speed	Math Score	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3	Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB · 64.2 t/s	64.2 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
4	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB · 18.7 t/s	18.7 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
5	NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 70.5 t/s	70.5 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB

#	Model	Speed ↓	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 117 t/s	117 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 86.4 t/s	86.4 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB
3	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 75.8 t/s	75.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB
4	NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 70.5 t/s	70.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB
5	Qwen3 30B A3B Thinking 2507Alibaba Q4_K_M · 19.4 GB · 66.8 t/s	66.8 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 19.4 GB

#	Model	Speed	Agents Score	Quant · Memory
1	Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 21.9 t/s	21.9 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Qwen2.5 Coder 32B InstructAlibaba Q4_K_M · 24.3 GB · 18.6 t/s	18.6 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 24.3 GB
3	GPT OSS 120BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 70.8 GB · 61.4 t/s	61.4 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 70.8 GB
4	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB · 18.7 t/s	18.7 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
5	NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 70.5 t/s	70.5 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB

See all 401 models on the Mac Studio M4 Max →Bars = traction for models without a Score yet

About the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB)

The Mac Studio M4 Max is a mid-range 128 GB desktop: it runs 27–31B and 120B MoE models well. Among 128 GB machines, only the M1 Ultra, M2 Ultra and M5 Max write faster. macOS keeps about 3.5 GB, leaving 124.5 GB for models. Prompt reading is its weak spot: a 4K-token prompt waits 33 s before the first word on Qwen3.8 27B. At its $3,499 MSRP it gives 18.3 tok/s per $1,000, 4th of the 8 machines compared here. M4 Max generation, released 2025; the newer M5 Max writes 6% faster with 2.0× the compute.

Speed in 128 GB#4546 GB/s

Prompt reading#534 TFLOPS

For models124.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GB

ChipM4 Maxreleased 2025

Mac Studio M4 Max strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Runs 120B MoE models: GPT OSS 120B at 61.4 tok/s in 70.8 GB
Room for long context: Qwen3.8 27B at Q4 uses 17.9 GB, leaving 106.6 GB free
Low power draw: 145 W at full load for the whole machine

Weaknesses

Slow on large dense models: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct at 8.2 tok/s
Slow prompt reading: A 32K-token prompt on Qwen3.8 27B waits 4.4 min for the first token
No CUDA: vLLM, AWQ, GPTQ and FP8 builds don't run; use GGUF or MLX

Memory for models

124.5 GB of 128 GB

35B MoE22 GB70B51.3 GB120B MoE70.8 GB127B82.8 GB

35B MoE22 GB127B82.8 GB

For models 124.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GBModel size at Q4

Everything on the size ladder fits. Two 27B-class models together use 35.7 GB and leave 88.8 GB free.

Speed per dollar and per watt

NewUsed

On Qwen3.6 35B A3B (35B params, 3B active) at Q4_K_M. New means a shop price, either a street quote or the maker's own price; used is compared with used. The last two columns are the speed you get per $1,000 of price and per 100 W of power; higher is better. The Mac Studio M4 Max has no current new price, so it is shown at its MSRP.

Machine	New price	tok/s	tok/s per $1,000	tok/s per 100 W
RTX 509032 GB	about $5,376	213	39.7	37.1
Mac Studio M4 Max64 GB	about $2,699	64.2	23.8	44.3
Mac Studio M4 Max36 GB	about $2,499	55.2	22.1	38.1
Mac Studio M4 Max128 GB	about $3,499	64.2	18.3	44.3
Mac Studio M2 Ultra192 GB	about $5,599	75.9	13.6	25.7
DGX Spark128 GB	about $3,999	54.0	13.5	22.5
MacBook Pro 16" M5 Max128 GB	about $5,399	67.8	12.6	–
Mac Studio M3 Ultra256 GB	about $7,099	76.6	10.8	28.4

Machine	Used price	tok/s	tok/s per $1,000	tok/s per 100 W
RTX 409024 GBBest used value	about $3,000	151	50.3	33.6
RTX 509032 GB	about $6,400	213	33.3	37.1
Mac Studio M4 Max36 GB	about $2,000	55.2	27.6	38.1
Mac Studio M4 Max64 GB	about $3,400	64.2	18.9	44.3

Cost per token: the Mac Studio M4 Max against 24–256 GB machines and GPUs

On Qwen3.6 35B A3B (35B params, 3B active, Q4_K_M, 4K context). Speed, cost per token and power per token depend on the model.

24–36 GB48–64 GB96–128 GB192+ GBthis desktopat MSRP

Cost per 1M output tokenson Qwen3.6 35B A3B · card over 3 years + power

$3.55

Machine, MSRP: $3.46
Power: $0.09

3-year cost of ownership$3,594

Or rent an A100 in the cloud$1.00/hr

Renting costs as much as buying after ≈3,500 hours (≈2.4 years at 4 h a day).

Include card price

Power$/kWhUseh/dayKeepyears

Each dot is a machine or GPU; hover or tap it for its numbers, click to open it. Machines without a price for the chosen basis are left out. Machines without a published power figure are left out of Per watt and costed without power. How we calculate cost per token

Similar devices and alternatives

Other memory sizes of the same machine first, then machines and GPUs people weigh against it, each with the one reason it is worth a look. Speeds on Qwen3.6 35B A3B.

Same chip, 64 GB less memory for $800 lessMac Studio M4 Max (64 GB)Apple · 60.5 GB for models · M4 Max

same speed▼ $800 less▼ 64 GB$2,699

Same family Same chip, 80 GB less memoryMac Studio M4 Max (48 GB)Apple · 44.5 GB for models · M4 Max

same speed▼ 80 GBno price

Same family Newer laptop, 6% fasterMacBook Pro 16" M5 Max (128 GB)Apple · 124.5 GB for models · M5 Max

▲ 6% speedsame memory$5,399

Reads prompts 8× faster, 120 GB for modelsDGX SparkNVIDIA · 120 GB for models · GB10

▲ 8× prompts▼ 16% speed▼ 4.5 GB$3,999

2.4× faster if your models fit in 24 GBRTX 4090NVIDIA · 24 GB VRAM · GPU

▲ 135% speed▼ 100.5 GB$1,599rent $0.34/hr

3.3× faster if your models fit in 32 GBRTX 5090NVIDIA · 32 GB VRAM · GPU

▲ 232% speed▼ 92.5 GB$5,376rent $0.48/hr

Mac Studio M4 Max tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (546 GB/s). Grey rows need more than the 124.5 GB available.

9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
60.1tok/s
14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB
40.2tok/s
27–31BQwen3.8 27B · Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
21.9tok/s
35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
64.2tok/s
70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · Q4_K_M · 51.3 GB slow
8.2tok/s
120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · Q4_K_M · 70.8 GB
61.4tok/s

Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate

Max generations: writing vs compute

M1 Max → M5 Max

Writing speed (tok/s)Compute (TFLOPS FP16)

Writing speed follows memory bandwidth and barely moved: 54.5 to 67.8 tok/s since the M1 Max. Compute, which sets how fast prompts are read, grew 4.4×. Indexed to the M1 Max; speeds on Qwen3.6 35B A3B, same 64 GB.

All 1290 models on the Mac Studio M4 Max

Featured only

Best quant that fits in 124.5 GB, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works

LLM models compatible with Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB) — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
Model	Quant	VRAM	Speed	Context	Fit
Gemma 2 9B IT9.2BChat Q4_K_M·62.7 t/s	Q4_K_M	7.3 GB6%	62.7 t/s	8K	A84, Runs well
Qwen3 1.7B1.7BChat Q4_K_M·341.2 t/s	Q4_K_M	2.8 GB2%	341.2 t/s	—	S100, Runs great
Qwen3.5 9B Humanize DPO Round29BChat BF16·19.3 t/s	BF16	22.4 GB18%	19.3 t/s	—	B59, Decent
Param 1 2.9B Instruct2.9BChat BF16·60.8 t/s	BF16	7.1 GB6%	60.8 t/s	8K	A84, Runs well
Jan v3 4B Base Instruct4.4BChatCode Q4_K_M·121.7 t/s	Q4_K_M	4.5 GB4%	121.7 t/s	262K	S95, Runs great
Granite Docling 258M258MVisionChatCodeMath Q4_K_M·764.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.6 GB1%	764.4 t/s	8K	S100, Runs great
Llama 3.2 Korean Bllossom 3B3.2BChat Q4_K_M·155.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	4.1 GB3%	155.4 t/s	131K	S97, Runs great
Stories15M MOE36MChat Q4_K_M·527.8 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.3 GB0%	527.8 t/s	0K	S100, Runs great
Kai 30B Instruct32.8BChatMathReasoningCode Q4_K_M·18.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	24.3 GB19%	18.6 t/s	33K	B58, Decent
OlmOCR 2 7B 10258.3BVision Q4_K_M·70.9 t/s	Q4_K_M	6.2 GB5%	70.9 t/s	128K	S86, Runs great
C4ai Command R7b 12 20248.0BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·72.1 t/s	Q4_K_M	7.9 GB6%	72.1 t/s	—	S86, Runs great
STEM Oracle 27B27BChatMath Q4_K_M·21.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	21.4 GB17%	21.4 t/s	—	B62, Decent
Qwen3.5 27B Claude 4.6 Opus Reasoning Distilled Heretic v227.4BChatReasoning Q4_K_M·22.3 t/s	Q4_K_M	17.6 GB14%	22.3 t/s	262K	B62, Decent
Devstral 2 123B Instruct 2512125.0BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·5.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	81.2 GB65%	5.0 t/s	262K	C42, Usable
Gemma 2 2B IT Abliterated2.6BChat Q4_K_M·181.1 t/s	Q4_K_M	2.6 GB2%	181.1 t/s	8K	S99, Runs great

Mac Studio M4 Max specs and power

Specs

Chip: M4 Max
CPU cores: 16
GPU cores: 40
Unified memory: 128 GB
For models: 124.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
Memory bandwidth: 546 GB/s
FP16 (dense): 34.4 TFLOPS
Neural Engine: 38 TOPS
Power: 145 W max
Released: 2025-03-12
MSRP: $3,499

Mac Studio M4 Max FAQ

Is the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB) worth it for local LLMs in 2026?

At its $3,499 MSRP it gives 18.3 tok/s per $1,000 on Qwen3.6 35B A3B, 4th of the 8 machines compared here. It runs 27–31B and 120B MoE models well; dense 70B fits but is slow at 8 tok/s.

How much memory is available for AI on the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB)?

About 124.5 GB of the 128 GB. macOS keeps roughly 3.5 GB for itself and other apps.

What is the largest model the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB) can run?

Mistral Medium 3.5 128B (127.7B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at Q4_K_M it uses 82.8 GB, 67% of the available memory, and runs at about 4.9 tok/s. At 3-bit, a bigger model fits too: Inkling Small (266.0B) at IQ3_S, 116.2 GB.

Can the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB) run Qwen3.8 27B?

Yes. Qwen3.8 27B fits at Q4_K_M, using 17.9 GB of the 124.5 GB available, and it is the best model that runs well on this machine.

Can the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB) run 70B models?

Yes, but slowly: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct at Q4_K_M uses 51.3 GB and writes about 8.2 tok/s.

How long does the Mac Studio M4 Max (128 GB) take to read a long prompt?

On Qwen3.8 27B, about 33 s for a 4K-token prompt and 4.4 min for a 32K-token document before the first word appears.

Is renting a GPU cheaper than buying the Mac Studio M4 Max?

An A100 (80 GB) rents from $1.00/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈3,500 hours (≈2.4 years at 4 h a day).

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