Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated October 8, 2024
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — Aya Expanse 8B at Q8_0 needs about 10.4 GB of the 18 GB usable on MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro, 24 GB), leaving ~7.6 GB spare and running at ~15.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~15.7 tok/s
| Usable memory for models | 18 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 273 GB/s |
| Form factor | Laptop |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
| Price | $1,999 (lib/data/laptops.ts (street price), checked 2026-07-06) |
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 18 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 17.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~8.8 tok/s | 16.1 GB |
| Q8_0 | 10.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~15.7 tok/s | 8.5 GB |
| Q6_K | 8.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~19.8 tok/s | 6.6 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 7.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~22.4 tok/s | 5.7 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 6.7 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~25.6 tok/s | 4.8 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 5.3 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~33.9 tok/s | 3.4 GB |
| Q2_K | 4.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~41.3 tok/s | 2.6 GB |
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aya Expanse 32B | 21.6 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Aya Expanse 8B | 6.7 GB | ✓ Fits | ~25.6 tok/s |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes, comfortably — Aya Expanse 8B at Q8_0 needs about 10.4 GB of the 18 GB usable on MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro, 24 GB), leaving ~7.6 GB spare and running at ~15.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Q8_0 — it needs about 10.4 GB of the 18 GB available, downloads as roughly 8.5 GB, and runs at an estimated 15.7 tokens/sec with up to 8K of context.
Nothing binding — the model fits with headroom and generates at a usable speed on this hardware.
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
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