Apple · M4 Max · Desktop

Best AI Models for Mac Studio M4 Max (48 GB)

Runs 27–35B models well; 70B only just fits in 44.5 GB, and 120B MoE doesn't fit.

48 GB unified44.5 GB for models546 GB/s34 TFLOPS FP162025

Memory

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

Same chip in

Mac StudioMacBook Pro 16"$3,999 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 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB	18.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
4	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB	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 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 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB	18.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
3	Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB	64.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
4	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB	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 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 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Qwen3.5 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB	21.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB	18.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
4	Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB	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 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 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2	Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB	21.9 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3	Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB	64.2 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
4	Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB	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 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB

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

See all 335 models on the Mac Studio M4 Max →Bars = traction for models without a Score yet
Task rankings use that task's benchmarks, topped up from Overall when short; bars mark well-known models with no Score yet.

About the Mac Studio M4 Max (48 GB)

The Mac Studio M4 Max is one of the fastest 48 GB machines: it runs 27–35B models well. Among 48 GB machines, only the M5 Max write faster. macOS keeps about 3.5 GB, leaving 44.5 GB for models. With 34 TFLOPS it reads long prompts faster than most 48 GB machines: a 4K-token prompt takes 33 s. M4 Max generation, released 2025; the newer M5 Max writes 6% faster with 2.0× the compute.

Speed in 48 GB#2546 GB/s

Prompt reading#234 TFLOPS

For models44.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GB

ChipM4 Maxreleased 2025

Mac Studio M4 Max strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Runs 35B MoE models: Qwen3.6 35B A3B at 64.2 tok/s in 22 GB
Room for long context: Qwen3.8 27B at Q4 uses 17.9 GB, leaving 26.6 GB free

Weaknesses

120B MoE models don't fit: GPT OSS 120B needs 70.8 GB at Q4 vs 44.5 GB usable here
Slow on large dense models: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct at 9.6 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

44.5 GB of 48 GB

9B6.6 GB14B11.9 GB27–31B17.9 GB35B MoE22 GB70B44.5 GB

35B MoE22 GB70B44.5 GB

For models 44.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GBModel size at Q4

120B MoE models need 70.8 GB at Q4, more than the 44.5 GB available.

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, 12 GB less memoryMac Studio M4 Max (36 GB)Apple · 32.5 GB for models · M4 Max

▼ 14% speed▼ 12 GB$2,499

Same family Same chip, 16 GB more memoryMac Studio M4 Max (64 GB)Apple · 60.5 GB for models · M4 Max

same speed▲ 16 GB$2,699

Same family Machine, 33% slowerMac Mini M4 Pro (48 GB)Apple · 44.5 GB for models · M4 Pro

▼ 33% speedsame memory$2,199

Newer laptop, 28% slowerMacBook Pro 14 M5 ProApple · 48 GB for models · M5 Pro

▼ 28% speed▲ 3.5 GB$2,299

19% faster, 27.5 GB more memoryMac Studio M3 Ultra (96 GB)Apple · 72 GB for models · M3 Ultra

▲ 19% speed▲ 27.5 GB$3,999

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

▲ 135% speed▼ 20.5 GB$1,599rent $0.34/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 44.5 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 · Q3_K_L · 44.5 GB tight · Q3_K_L
9.6tok/s
120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · does not fit
needs 70.8 GB

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 32 GB.

All 1152 models on the Mac Studio M4 Max

Featured only

Best quant that fits in 44.5 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 (48 GB) — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
Model	Quant	VRAM	Speed	Context	Fit
Qwen2.5 Math 1.5B Instruct1.5BChatMathFunctions 1.5B·Q4_K_M·298.6 t/s·4K ctx	Q4_K_M	1.3 GB3%	298.6 t/s	4K	S100, Runs great
T5 Paraphrase Paws223MChat 223M·Q4_K_M·2548.0 t/s·1K ctx	Q4_K_M	0.1 GB0%	2548.0 t/s	1K	S100, Runs great
Gemma 3 4B Pt4.3BVision 4.3B·Q4_K_M·134.6 t/s	Q4_K_M	5 GB11%	134.6 t/s	—	S95, Runs great
Qwen3Guard Gen 8B8.2BChat 8.2B·Q4_K_M·69.2 t/s·33K ctx	Q4_K_M	7.6 GB17%	69.2 t/s	33K	S86, Runs great
GritLM 7B7.2BChat 7.2B·Q4_K_M·77.8 t/s·33K ctx	Q4_K_M	6.8 GB15%	77.8 t/s	33K	S87, Runs great
Phi 1 51.4BChatCode 1.4B·Q4_K_M·406.6 t/s·2K ctx	Q4_K_M	0.9 GB2%	406.6 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Codegen 350M Mono350MChatCode 350M·FP16·496.4 t/s·2K ctx	FP16	0.8 GB2%	496.4 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Llama2 Kv Sharing3MChat 3M·Q4_K_M·1274.0 t/s·2K ctx	Q4_K_M	0.3 GB1%	1274.0 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Xglm 564M564MChat 564M·Q4_K_M·1033.0 t/s·2K ctx	Q4_K_M	0.4 GB1%	1033.0 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Ling 3.0 Flash127.5BChatFunctions 127.5B·IQ2_M·74.2 t/s·262K ctx	IQ2_M	44.1 GB99%	74.2 t/s	262K	C44, Usable
Llama 160M162MChat 162M·Q4_K_M·813.2 t/s·2K ctx	Q4_K_M	0.5 GB1%	813.2 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
Luciole 1B Base1.3BChat 1.3B·Q4_K_M·321.2 t/s·131K ctx	Q4_K_M	1.9 GB4%	321.2 t/s	131K	S100, Runs great
BharatGPT 3B Indic3.2BChat 3.2B·BF16·54.1 t/s	BF16	9.1 GB20%	54.1 t/s	—	A81, Runs well
Llama 7B6.7BChat 6.7B·Q4_K_M·85.9 t/s·2K ctx	Q4_K_M	4.5 GB10%	85.9 t/s	2K	S88, Runs great
Qwen2.5 14B Instruct14.8BChatFunctions 14.8B·Q4_K_M·40.0 t/s·33K ctx	Q4_K_M	12.4 GB28%	40.0 t/s	33K	A75, Runs well

Mac Studio M4 Max specs

Specs

Chip: M4 Max
CPU cores: 16
GPU cores: 40
Unified memory: 48 GB
For models: 44.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
Memory bandwidth: 546 GB/s
FP16 (dense): 34.4 TFLOPS
Neural Engine: 38 TOPS
Released: 2025-03-12

Mac Studio M4 Max FAQ

How much memory is available for AI on the Mac Studio M4 Max (48 GB)?

About 44.5 GB of the 48 GB. macOS keeps roughly 3.5 GB for itself and other apps.

What is the largest model the Mac Studio M4 Max (48 GB) can run?

Qwen3.6 35B A3B (36.0B) at Q4_K_M uses 22.0 GB, 50% of the available memory, and runs at about 64.2 tok/s.

Can the Mac Studio M4 Max (48 GB) run Qwen3.8 27B?

Yes. Qwen3.8 27B fits at Q4_K_M, using 17.9 GB of the 44.5 GB available, and it is the best model that runs well on this machine.

Can the Mac Studio M4 Max (48 GB) run 120B MoE models?

No. GPT OSS 120B needs 70.8 GB at Q4, more than the 44.5 GB available.

How long does the Mac Studio M4 Max (48 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 RTX A6000 (48 GB) rents from $0.33/hr.

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