llmrun

Apple · M4 Max · Laptop

Best AI Models for MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 GB)

Runs 27–35B models well and fits 120B MoE; dense 70B fits but is slow at 8 tok/s.

64 GB unified60.5 GB for models546 GB/s34 TFLOPS FP162024
Memory
36 GBabout $3,19948 GB64 GB128 GB
Same chip in
MacBook Pro 14"Mac Studioabout $2,699MacBook Pro 16"about $4,199

What LLMs can the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max run?

#ModelSpeedllmrun ScoreQuant · Memory
1
Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run →
Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
21.9 tok/sQ4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2
Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba
Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
21.9 tok/sQ4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3
Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle
Q4_K_M · 21.7 GB
18.7 tok/sQ4_K_M · 21.7 GB
4
Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle
Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB
75.8 tok/sQ4_K_M · 16.5 GB
5
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA
Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB
70.5 tok/sQ4_K_M · 19.3 GB
See all 338 models on the MacBook Pro 14" 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 MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 GB)

The MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max is a mid-range 64 GB laptop: it runs 27–35B models well and fits 120B MoE. Among 64 GB machines, only the M1 Ultra, M2 Ultra and M5 Max write faster. macOS keeps about 3.5 GB, leaving 60.5 GB for models. Prompt reading is its weak spot: a 4K-token prompt waits 33 s before the first word on Qwen3.8 27B. M4 Max generation, released 2024; the newer M5 Max writes 6% faster with 2.0× the compute.

Speed in 64 GB#4546 GB/s
Prompt reading#434 TFLOPS
For models60.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GB
ChipM4 Maxreleased 2024

MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • Runs 120B MoE models: GPT OSS 120B at 67.7 tok/s in 59.1 GB
  • Room for long context: Qwen3.8 27B at Q4 uses 17.9 GB, leaving 42.6 GB free

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

60.5 GB of 64 GB
9B6.6 GB14B11.9 GB35B MoE22 GB70B51.3 GB120B MoE59.1 GB
35B MoE22 GB120B MoE59.1 GB
For models 60.5 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 24.8 GB free.

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, 16 GB less memoryMacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (48 GB)Apple · 44.5 GB for models · M4 Max
same speed▼ 16 GBno price
Same familySame chip, 2× the memoryMacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (128 GB)Apple · 124.5 GB for models · M4 Max
same speed▲ 64 GBno price
Same family19% faster, 11.5 GB more memoryMac Studio M3 Ultra (96 GB)Apple · 72 GB for models · M3 Ultra
▲ 19% speed▲ 11.5 GBabout $3,999
Newer laptop, 28% slowerMacBook Pro 14 M5 ProApple · 48 GB for models · M5 Pro
▼ 28% speed▼ 12.5 GBabout $2,299
2.4× faster if your models fit in 24 GBRTX 4090NVIDIA · 24 GB VRAM · GPU
▲ 135% speed▼ 36.5 GBabout $1,599rent $0.34/hr
3.3× faster if your models fit in 32 GBRTX 5090NVIDIA · 32 GB VRAM · GPU
▲ 232% speed▼ 28.5 GBabout $5,376rent $0.64/hr

MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (546 GB/s). Grey rows need more than the 60.5 GB available.

  1. 9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
    60.1tok/s
  2. 14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB
    40.2tok/s
  3. 27–31BQwen3.8 27B · Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
    21.9tok/s
  4. 35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
    64.2tok/s
  5. 70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · Q4_K_M · 51.3 GB slow
    8.2tok/s
  6. 120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · Q4_0 · 59.1 GB tight · Q4_0
    67.7tok/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)
1×2×3×4×M1 Max2021M2 Max2023M3 Max2023M4 Max2024M5 Max2026M1 Max · 20.8 TFLOPS FP16M1 Max · 54.5 tok/s · 400 GB/sM2 Max · 27.2 TFLOPS FP16M2 Max · 54.5 tok/s · 400 GB/sM3 Max · 28.7 TFLOPS FP16M3 Max · 55.2 tok/s · 409.6 GB/sM4 Max · 34.4 TFLOPS FP16M4 Max · 64.2 tok/s · 546 GB/sM5 Max · 68 TFLOPS FP16M5 Max · 67.8 tok/s · 614 GB/sCompute 3.3×Writing +24%
1×2×3×4×M12021M22023M32023M42024M52026M1 Max · 20.8 TFLOPS FP16M1 Max · 54.5 tok/s · 400 GB/sM2 Max · 27.2 TFLOPS FP16M2 Max · 54.5 tok/s · 400 GB/sM3 Max · 28.7 TFLOPS FP16M3 Max · 55.2 tok/s · 409.6 GB/sM4 Max · 34.4 TFLOPS FP16M4 Max · 64.2 tok/s · 546 GB/sM5 Max · 68 TFLOPS FP16M5 Max · 67.8 tok/s · 614 GB/sCompute 3.3×Writing +24%

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 3.3×. Indexed to the M1 Max; speeds on Qwen3.6 35B A3B, same 64 GB.

All 1168 models on the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max

Featured only

Best quant that fits in 60.5 GB, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works

LLM models compatible with MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 GB) — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
ModelVRAMScoreFit
Granite 3.1 8B Instruct
8.2B·Q4_K_M·69.0 t/s·131K ctx
7.9 GBS86, Runs great
SmolLM2 135M
135M·Q4_K_M·888.8 t/s·8K ctx
0.6 GBS100, Runs great
Mistral 7B v0.1
7.2B·Q4_K_M·77.8 t/s·33K ctx
6.8 GBS87, Runs great
Qwen2.5 7B
7.6B·Q4_K_M·76.6 t/s·131K ctx
5.8 GBS87, Runs great
Qwen 7B
7.7B·Q4_K_M·74.9 t/s·33K ctx
7.6 GBS86, Runs great
OLMo 2 1124 7B Instruct
7.3B·Q4_K_M·66.5 t/s·4K ctx
6.8 GBS85, Runs great
Qwen3 8B Abliterated
8.2B·Q4_K_M·70.6 t/s
8.0 GBS86, Runs great
SmolLM 1.7B
1.7B·Q4_K_M·220.9 t/s·2K ctx
1.7 GBS100, Runs great
Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct
4B·Q4_K_M·128.7 t/s·4K ctx
3.2 GBS95, Runs great
C4ai Command R V01
35.0B·Q4_K_M·16.6 t/s
27.0 GBB56, Decent
Qwen2 7B Instruct
7.6B·Q4_K_M·76.6 t/s·33K ctx
5.8 GBS87, Runs great
Mistral Small Instruct 2409
22.2B·Q4_K_M·27.1 t/s·33K ctx
17.4 GBA68, Runs well
Covenant 72B
72.7B·Q4_K_M·8.6 t/s·2K ctx
44.6 GBB46, Decent
Qwen2.5 72B
72.7B·Q4_K_M·8.6 t/s·131K ctx
49.3 GBB45, Decent
Chatglm2 6B
6B·Q4_K_M·96.5 t/s·33K ctx
6.3 GBS90, Runs great

MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max specs

Specs

Chip
M4 Max
CPU cores
16
GPU cores
40
Unified memory
64 GB
For models
60.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
Memory bandwidth
546 GB/s
FP16 (dense)
34.4 TFLOPS
Neural Engine
38 TOPS
Released
2024-11-08

MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max FAQ

How much memory is available for AI on the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 GB)?

About 60.5 GB of the 64 GB. macOS keeps roughly 3.5 GB for itself and other apps.

What is the largest model the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 GB) can run?

GPT OSS 120B (116.8B) at Q4_0 uses 59.1 GB, 98% of the available memory, and runs at about 67.7 tok/s.

Can the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 GB) run Qwen3.8 27B?

Yes. Qwen3.8 27B fits at Q4_K_M, using 17.9 GB of the 60.5 GB available, and it is the best model that runs well on this machine.

Can the MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 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 MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max (64 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 MacBook Pro 14" M4 Max?

An A100 (80 GB) rents from $1.07/hr.

48 GB GPUsAll MacsLaptopsMac Pro M2 UltraMac Studio M1 UltraMac Studio M2 UltraMac Studio M5 MaxMacBook Pro 14" M5 MaxMacBook Pro 16" M5 MaxBest coding LLMsAll hardware