Apple · M4 Max · Laptop
Best AI Models for MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB)
Runs 27–35B models well; 70B doesn't fit in 32.5 GB.
| # | Model | Speed | llmrun Score | Quant · Memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 3 | Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 64.2 t/s | 64.2 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB | |
| 4 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 72.3 t/s | 72.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 5 | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 64.8 t/s | 64.8 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB |
| # | Model | Speed | Coding Score | Quant · Memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB · 55.2 t/s | 55.2 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB | |
| 3 | Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 64.2 t/s | 64.2 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB | |
| 4 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 72.3 t/s | 72.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 5 | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 64.8 t/s | 64.8 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB |
| # | Model | Speed | Reasoning Score | Quant · Memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.5 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 3 | Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 64.2 t/s | 64.2 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB | |
| 4 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 72.3 t/s | 72.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 5 | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 64.8 t/s | 64.8 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 · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 2 | Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s | 16.5 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB | |
| 3 | Qwen3.6 35B A3BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB · 55.2 t/s | 55.2 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB | |
| 4 | Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 64.2 t/s | 64.2 tok/s | overall | Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB |
| 5 | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 64.8 t/s | 64.8 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB |
| # | Model | Speed ↓ | llmrun Score | Quant · Memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 88.0 t/s | 88.0 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB | |
| 2 | GPT OSS 20BOpenAI Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 72.3 t/s | 72.3 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB | |
| 3 | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 64.8 t/s | 64.8 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB | |
| 4 | Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 64.2 t/s | 64.2 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB | |
| 5 | Qwen3 30B A3B Thinking 2507Alibaba Q4_K_M · 19.4 GB · 59.6 t/s | 59.6 tok/s | Q4_K_M · 19.4 GB |
The MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max is one of the fastest 36 GB machines: it runs 27–35B models well. Among 36 GB machines, only the M5 Max write faster. macOS keeps about 3.5 GB, leaving 32.5 GB for models. With 26 TFLOPS it reads long prompts faster than most 36 GB machines: a 4K-token prompt takes 44 s. At its $3,199 MSRP it gives 17.3 tok/s per $1,000, 5th of the 6 machines compared here. M4 Max generation, released 2024; the newer M5 Max writes 7% faster with 2.1× the compute.
MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Runs 35B MoE models: Qwen3.6 35B A3B at 55.2 tok/s in 22 GB
- Room for long context: Qwen3.8 27B at Q4 uses 17.9 GB, leaving 14.6 GB free
Weaknesses
- 70B models don't fit: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct needs 51.3 GB at Q4 vs 32.5 GB usable here
- Slow prompt reading: A 32K-token prompt on Qwen3.8 27B waits 5.9 min for the first token
- No CUDA: vLLM, AWQ, GPTQ and FP8 builds don't run; use GGUF or MLX
Memory for models
32.5 GB of 36 GB70B models need 51.3 GB at Q4, more than the 32.5 GB available. The 48 GB config fits Gemma 4 31B IT →Or rent an H100 (80 GB) from $2.69/hr →
Speed per dollar and per watt
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 MacBook Pro 14" 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 Mini M432 GB | about $999 | 23.5 | 23.5 | 36.2 |
Mac Studio M4 Max36 GB | about $2,499 | 55.2 | 22.1 | 38.1 |
Mac Mini M4 Pro48 GB | about $2,199 | 43.2 | 19.6 | 30.9 |
| about $3,199 | 55.2 | 17.3 | – | |
MacBook Pro 14 M532 GB | about $1,839 | 28.6 | 15.6 | – |
| Machine | Used price | tok/s | tok/s per $1,000 | tok/s per 100 W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
Cost per token: the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max against 32–48 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.
- Machine, MSRP
- $3.68
- Power
- not published
Renting costs as much as buying after ≈7,000 hours (≈4.8 years at 4 h a day).
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
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.
Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (410 GB/s). Grey rows need more than the 32.5 GB available.
- 9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB45.1tok/s
- 14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB30.2tok/s
- 27–31BQwen3.8 27B · Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB16.5tok/s
- 35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB55.2tok/s
- 70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · not at 4-bitneeds 51.3 GB
- 120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bitneeds 70.8 GB
Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate
Max generations: writing vs compute
M1 Max → M5 MaxWriting speed follows memory bandwidth and barely moved: 54.5 to 58.8 tok/s since the M1 Max. Compute, which sets how fast prompts are read, grew 3.5×. Indexed to the M1 Max; speeds on Qwen3.6 35B A3B, same 32 GB.
All 1176 models on the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max
Featured onlyBest quant that fits in 32.5 GB, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works
| Model | Quant | VRAM | Speed | Context | Score | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Granite 4.0 350MChatFunctions | Q4_K_M | 1.0 GB | 503.0 t/s | 33K | S100, Runs great | |
Turkish Gemma 4B T1 ScoutChatFunctionsReasoning | Q4_K_M | 3.6 GB | 88.5 t/s | 131K | S89, Runs great | |
Pantheon Reasoning 27BChatRoleplayReasoning | Q4_K_M | 17.9 GB | 16.5 t/s | 262K | B56, Decent | |
Qwen3.6 27B AEON Ultimate Uncensored BF16ChatFunctionsReasoningVision | Q4_K_M | 17.6 GB | 16.7 t/s | 262K | B56, Decent | |
| Q4_K_M | 3.1 GB | 102.3 t/s | 4K | S92, Runs great | ||
Jina Ocr V1Vision | Q4_K_M | 3.3 GB | 185.8 t/s | 33K | S99, Runs great | |
Ouro 2.6B ThinkingChatReasoning | BF16 | 12.1 GB | 44.5 t/s | 66K | A77, Runs well | |
| Q4_K_M | 0.5 GB | 597.3 t/s | 33K | S100, Runs great | ||
Qwen3 14B PAROChat | Q4_K_M | 3.9 GB | 182.6 t/s | 41K | S99, Runs great | |
AriaVision | Q4_K_M | 20.2 GB | 63.8 t/s | 66K | A84, Runs well | |
A.X 4.0 LightChatFunctions | Q4_K_M | 5.6 GB | 60.1 t/s | 16K | A84, Runs well | |
Kumru 2BChat | Q4_K_M | 2.2 GB | 155.8 t/s | 8K | S97, Runs great | |
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5BChatReasoning | Q4_K_M | 2.6 GB | 289.6 t/s | — | S100, Runs great | |
Penguin VL 2BChatVision | BF16 | 6.5 GB | 58.9 t/s | 41K | A83, Runs well | |
| Q4_K_M | 1.7 GB | 224.0 t/s | 33K | S100, Runs great |
Specs
- Chip
- M4 Max
- CPU cores
- 14
- GPU cores
- 32
- Unified memory
- 36 GB
- For models
- 32.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
- Memory bandwidth
- 409.6 GB/s
- FP16 (dense)
- 25.8 TFLOPS
- Neural Engine
- 38 TOPS
- Released
- 2024-11-08
- MSRP
- $3,199
MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max FAQ
Is the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB) worth it for local LLMs in 2026?
At its $3,199 MSRP it gives 17.3 tok/s per $1,000 on Qwen3.6 35B A3B, 5th of the 6 machines compared here. It runs 27–35B models well; 70B doesn't fit in 32.5 GB.
How much memory is available for AI on the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB)?
About 32.5 GB of the 36 GB. macOS keeps roughly 3.5 GB for itself and other apps.
What is the largest model the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB) can run?
Qwen3.6 35B A3B (36.0B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at Q4_K_M it uses 22.0 GB, 68% of the available memory, and runs at about 55.2 tok/s.
Can the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB) run Qwen3.8 27B?
Yes. Qwen3.8 27B fits at Q4_K_M, using 17.9 GB of the 32.5 GB available, and it is the best model that runs well on this machine.
Can the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB) run 70B models?
No. Llama 3.3 70B Instruct needs 51.3 GB at Q4, more than the 32.5 GB available.
How long does the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (36 GB) take to read a long prompt?
On Qwen3.8 27B, about 44 s for a 4K-token prompt and 5.9 min for a 32K-token document before the first word appears.
Is renting a GPU cheaper than buying the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max?
An RTX A6000 (48 GB) rents from $0.46/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈7,000 hours (≈4.8 years at 4 h a day).