Can I Run Aya Expanse on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated October 8, 2024
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — Aya Expanse 32B at Q6_K needs about 28.6 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB), leaving ~19.4 GB spare and running at ~5.4 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 65,536 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q6_K · Estimated speed: ~5.4 tok/s
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Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB) — what it gives a model
| Usable memory for models | 48 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 273 GB/s |
| Form factor | Mini PC |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
Aya Expanse on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB): memory by quantization
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 48 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 66.7 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 64.6 GB |
| Q8_0 | 36.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~4.2 tok/s | 34.3 GB |
| Q6_K | 28.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~5.4 tok/s | 26.5 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 25 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~6.2 tok/s | 22.9 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 21.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~7.3 tok/s | 19.5 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 15.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~10.1 tok/s | 13.8 GB |
| Q2_K | 12.8 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~12.7 tok/s | 10.6 GB |
Which Aya Expanse sizes fit
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aya Expanse 32B | 21.6 GB | ✓ Fits | ~7.3 tok/s |
| Aya Expanse 8B | 6.7 GB | ✓ Fits | ~25.6 tok/s |
What to watch out for
- Memory on this machine is not upgradeable, so the configuration you buy is the ceiling for every model you will ever run on it.
Mac mini M4 Pro 64 GB limitations
- M4 Pro memory bandwidth is half the M4 Max's, so large models that fit will still generate roughly half as fast.
Recommended setup
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
How these numbers are calculated
- Memory need = quantized weights + KV cache at 8,192 tokens (f16) + 0.8 GB runtime overhead.
- 64 GB unified memory at 273 GB/s, shared between CPU and GPU.
- macOS reserves a share of unified memory for the system, so not all of it is available to a model.
- Throughput is a memory-bandwidth roofline estimate, not a measurement. It is labelled "estimated" everywhere it appears.
- KV cache is computed from this model's published attention configuration.
FAQ
Can I run Aya Expanse on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Yes, comfortably — Aya Expanse 32B at Q6_K needs about 28.6 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB), leaving ~19.4 GB spare and running at ~5.4 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 65,536 tokens of context.
Which quantization of Aya Expanse should I use on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Q6_K — it needs about 28.6 GB of the 48 GB available, downloads as roughly 26.5 GB, and runs at an estimated 5.4 tokens/sec with up to 64K of context.
What limits Aya Expanse on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Nothing binding — the model fits with headroom and generates at a usable speed on this hardware.
Which runtime should I use?
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Other Computers
Other Models on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- BitNet b1.58 on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Bonsai 27B on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Codestral on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Cogito v1 on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Command R Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
Aya Expanse on GPUs
- Aya Expanse on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090
- Aya Expanse on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
- Aya Expanse on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB
- Aya Expanse on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
What This Model Is Good At
- Best local LLMs for document analysis
- Best local LLMs for translation
- Best local LLMs for enterprise assistant
Model & Tools
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