llmrun

Apple · M3 Max · Laptop

Best AI Models for MacBook Pro 16" M3 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 models409.6 GB/s29 TFLOPS FP162023
Memory
36 GB48 GB64 GB96 GB128 GB
Same chip in
MacBook Pro 16"MacBook Pro 14"

What LLMs can the MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max run?

#ModelSpeedllmrun ScoreQuant · Memory
1
Qwen3.8 27BAlibabaHow to run →
Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s
16.5 tok/sQ4_K_M · 17.9 GB
2
Qwen3.6 27BAlibaba
Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB · 16.5 t/s
16.5 tok/sQ4_K_M · 17.9 GB
3
Gemma 4 26B A4B ITGoogle
Q4_K_M · 16.5 GB · 64.2 t/s
64.2 tok/sQ4_K_M · 16.5 GB
4
GPT OSS 20BOpenAI
Q4_K_M · 13.1 GB · 72.3 t/s
72.3 tok/sQ4_K_M · 13.1 GB
5
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B BF16NVIDIA
Q4_K_M · 19.3 GB · 64.8 t/s
64.8 tok/sQ4_K_M · 19.3 GB
See all 367 models on the MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max →Bars = traction for models without a Score yet

About the MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max (48 GB)

The MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max is a mid-range 48 GB laptop: it runs 27–35B models well. Among 48 GB machines, only the M5 Max and M4 Max write faster. macOS keeps about 3.5 GB, leaving 44.5 GB for models. Prompt reading is its weak spot: a 4K-token prompt waits 40 s before the first word on Qwen3.8 27B. M3 Max generation, released 2023; the newer M4 Max writes 16% faster with 1.2× the compute.

Speed in 48 GB#3410 GB/s
Prompt reading#429 TFLOPS
For models44.5 GBmacOS keeps 3.5 GB
ChipM3 Maxreleased 2023

MacBook Pro 16" M3 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 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 7.2 tok/s
  • Slow prompt reading: A 32K-token prompt on Qwen3.8 27B waits 5.3 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.Or rent an RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition (96 GB) from $1.34/hr →

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 memoryMacBook Pro 16" M3 Max (36 GB)Apple · 32.5 GB for models · M3 Max
▼ 17% speed▼ 12 GBno price
Same familySame chip, 16 GB more memoryMacBook Pro 16" M3 Max (64 GB)Apple · 60.5 GB for models · M3 Max
same speed▲ 16 GBno price
Same family16% faster, same memoryMacBook Pro 16" M4 Max (48 GB)Apple · 44.5 GB for models · M4 Max
▲ 16% speedsame memoryabout $3,999
Newer machine, 22% slowerMac Mini M4 Pro (48 GB)Apple · 44.5 GB for models · M4 Pro
▼ 22% speedsame memoryabout $2,199
Newer laptop, 16% slowerMacBook Pro 14 M5 ProApple · 60.5 GB for models · M5 Pro
▼ 16% speed▲ 16 GBabout $2,299
2.7× faster if your models fit in 24 GBRTX 4090NVIDIA · 24 GB VRAM · GPU
▲ 174% speed▼ 20.5 GBabout $1,599rent $0.34/hr

MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (410 GB/s). Grey rows need more than the 44.5 GB available.

  1. 9BQwen3.5 9B · Q4_K_M · 6.6 GB
    45.1tok/s
  2. 14BQwen3 14B · Q4_K_M · 11.9 GB
    30.2tok/s
  3. 27–31BQwen3.8 27B · Q4_K_M · 17.9 GB
    16.5tok/s
  4. 35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · Q4_K_M · 22.0 GB
    55.2tok/s
  5. 70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · Q3_K_L · 44.5 GB tight · Q3_K_L
    7.2tok/s
  6. 120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bit
    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)
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 32 GB.

All 1215 models on the MacBook Pro 16" M3 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 MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max (48 GB) — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
ModelVRAMScoreFit
Qwen3 4B Z Image Engineer V4
Q4_K_M·108.6 t/s
4.8 GBS93, Runs great
Surya Ocr 2
Q4_K_M·377.3 t/s
0.8 GBS100, Runs great
Huihui Qwen3.6 35B A3B Claude 4.7 Opus Abliterated
Q4_K_M·55.2 t/s
22.0 GBA82, Runs well
Tiny Random Gpt2
Q4_K_M·28672.0 t/s
0.0 GBS100, Runs great
Kimi Linear Tiny Random
BF16·516.7 t/s
0.3 GBS100, Runs great
Tiny Random Phi3ForCausalLM
Q4_K_M·955.7 t/s
0.3 GBS100, Runs great
Qwen3.6 35B A3b Crown Halo Mtp Dynamic
Q4_K_M·60.6 t/s
27.0 GBA84, Runs well
LocoOperator 4B
Q4_K_M·98.9 t/s
4.2 GBS91, Runs great
Gemma 4 E4B IT OBLITERATED
Q4_K_M·53.9 t/s
5.6 GBA81, Runs well
Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct 2512
Q4_K_M·19.0 t/s
18.1 GBB59, Decent
Nanowhale 100M
BF16·309.4 t/s
0.5 GBS100, Runs great
Phi 3.5 Moe Tiny Random
Q4_K_M·955.7 t/s
0.3 GBS100, Runs great
SmolVLM2 2.2B Instruct
Q4_K_M·193.7 t/s
2.3 GBS99, Runs great
Archaea 74M
Q4_K_M·819.2 t/s
0.3 GBS100, Runs great
Tiny Random ArceeForCausalLM
Q4_K_M·955.7 t/s
0.3 GBS100, Runs great

MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max specs

Specs

Chip
M3 Max
CPU cores
16
GPU cores
40
Unified memory
48 GB
For models
44.5 GB (macOS keeps 3.5 GB)
Memory bandwidth
409.6 GB/s
FP16 (dense)
28.7 TFLOPS
Neural Engine
18 TOPS
Released
2023-11-07

MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max FAQ

How much memory is available for AI on the MacBook Pro 16" M3 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 MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max (48 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, 50% of the available memory, and runs at about 55.2 tok/s.

Can the MacBook Pro 16" M3 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 MacBook Pro 16" M3 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 MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max (48 GB) take to read a long prompt?

On Qwen3.8 27B, about 40 s for a 4K-token prompt and 5.3 min for a 32K-token document before the first word appears.

Is renting a GPU cheaper than buying the MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max?

An H100 (80 GB) rents from $2.20/hr.

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