What can MacBook Pro 16" M4 Max run?
Build: MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB
Runs comfortably45 models
Full-VRAM resident, with room for context. No compromises.
Quant: Q4_K_MContext: 8,192VRAM: 9.8 GBHeadroom: 46.2 GBollama run gemma3:1b865tok/sE
ollama run gemma3:1bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 10.3 GBHeadroom: 45.7 GBollama run llama3.2:1b492tok/sE
ollama run llama3.2:1bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 11.9 GBHeadroom: 44.1 GBollama run gemma4:e2b246tok/sE
ollama run gemma4:e2bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 13.5 GBHeadroom: 42.5 GBollama run llama3.2:3b164tok/sE
ollama run llama3.2:3bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 8,192VRAM: 13.5 GBHeadroom: 42.5 GB206tok/sE
Quant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 14.8 GBHeadroom: 41.2 GBollama run phi3.5:3.8b129tok/sE
ollama run phi3.5:3.8bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 15.2 GBHeadroom: 40.8 GBollama run gemma4:e4b123tok/sE
ollama run gemma4:e4bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 15.2 GBHeadroom: 40.8 GBollama run qwen3:4b123tok/sE
ollama run qwen3:4bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 15.2 GBHeadroom: 40.8 GBollama run gemma3:4b123tok/sE
ollama run gemma3:4bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 8,192VRAM: 17.8 GBHeadroom: 38.2 GB108tok/sE
Quant: Q5_K_MContext: 8,192VRAM: 17.2 GBHeadroom: 38.8 GBollama run mistral:7b109tok/sE
ollama run mistral:7bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 8,192VRAM: 16.6 GBHeadroom: 39.4 GBollama run codegemma:7b124tok/sE
ollama run codegemma:7bRuns with tradeoffs6 models
Tight VRAM, partial CPU offload, or context-limited.
Quant: Q4_K_MContext: 8,192VRAM: 55.8 GBHeadroom: 0.2 GB- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.2 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run llama3.3:70b12tok/sE
- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.2 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run llama3.3:70bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 2,048VRAM: 55.7 GBHeadroom: 0.3 GB- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run deepseek-r1:70b12tok/sE
- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run deepseek-r1:70bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 2,048VRAM: 55.7 GBHeadroom: 0.3 GB- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run llama3.1:70b12tok/sE
- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run llama3.1:70bQuant: Q8_0Context: 8,192VRAM: 52.3 GBHeadroom: 3.7 GB- • Tight VRAM fit — only 3.7 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run gemma3:27b18tok/sE
- • Tight VRAM fit — only 3.7 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run gemma3:27bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 2,048VRAM: 55.7 GBHeadroom: 0.3 GB- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run nemotron:70b12tok/sE
- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run nemotron:70bQuant: Q4_K_MContext: 2,048VRAM: 55.7 GBHeadroom: 0.3 GB- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run hermes3:70b12tok/sE
- • Tight VRAM fit — only 0.3 GB headroom left for context growth
ollama run hermes3:70bWhat if you upgraded?
Hypothetical scenarios. We re-ran the compatibility engine for each.
Move up an Apple memory tier
~$200–400 over base
On Apple Silicon, more unified memory is the only path forward — VRAM and system RAM are the same pool.
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Won't runtop 5 popular models
Need more memory than you have. Shown for orientation.
Needs ~160 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
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Needs ~160 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
Needs ~80 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
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Needs ~80 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
Needs ~420 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
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Needs ~420 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
Needs ~140 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
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Needs ~140 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
Needs ~420 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
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Needs ~420 GB unified memory minimum at smallest quant; you have 56 GB available after OS overhead.
How to read these numbers
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