Can I Run Granite 3.0 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)?
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated October 21, 2024
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — Granite 3.0 8B Instruct at Q8_0 needs about 10.6 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB), leaving ~37.4 GB spare and running at ~29.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 131,072 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~29.7 tok/s
See what else this hardware can run →
or compare on Vast.ai from $0.35/hr (typical low · varies)
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Cloud GPU links are referral links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB) — what it gives a model
| Usable memory for models | 48 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 546 GB/s |
| Form factor | Desktop |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
Granite 3.0 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB): memory by quantization
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 48 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 18.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~17 tok/s | 16 GB |
| Q8_0 | 10.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~29.7 tok/s | 8.5 GB |
| Q6_K | 8.7 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~36.8 tok/s | 6.6 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 7.8 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~41.3 tok/s | 5.7 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 7 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~46.8 tok/s | 4.8 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 5.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~60.1 tok/s | 3.4 GB |
| Q2_K | 4.8 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~71.3 tok/s | 2.6 GB |
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 Studio M4 Max 64 GB limitations
- Memory is soldered; the configuration chosen at purchase is permanent.
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 546 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 Granite 3.0 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)?
Yes, comfortably — Granite 3.0 8B Instruct at Q8_0 needs about 10.6 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB), leaving ~37.4 GB spare and running at ~29.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 131,072 tokens of context.
Which quantization of Granite 3.0 should I use on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)?
Q8_0 — it needs about 10.6 GB of the 48 GB available, downloads as roughly 8.5 GB, and runs at an estimated 29.7 tokens/sec with up to 128K of context.
What limits Granite 3.0 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 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 Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- IBM Granite 4.0 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- IBM Granite 4.1 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- IBM Granite 4.2 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- InternLM 3 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- LFM2.5 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
Granite 3.0 on GPUs
- Granite 3.0 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
- Granite 3.0 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB
- Granite 3.0 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
- Granite 3.0 on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
What This Model Is Good At
Model & Tools
← Can I Run It? | Granite 3.0 model page | Check your hardware