Can I Run IBM Granite 4.0 on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB)?

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated August 15, 2026

Yes

Yes — Granite 4.0 Small-H 32B-A9B at Q6_K needs about 28.9 GB of the 36 GB usable on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB) (~7.1 GB spare), at ~32.5 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 32,768 tokens of context.

Confidence: medium · Recommended quantization: Q6_K · Estimated speed: ~32.5 tok/s

MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB) — what it gives a model

Usable memory for models36 GB
Memory bandwidth546 GB/s
Form factorLaptop
Operating systemmacOS
Memory upgradeableNo — soldered
Price$3,999 (lib/data/laptops.ts (street price), checked 2026-07-06)

IBM Granite 4.0 on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB): memory by quantization

QuantMemory neededFits 36 GB?Max contextEst. speedDownload
F1666.6 GB✗ No64 GB
Q8_036.6 GB✗ No34 GB
Q6_K28.9 GB✓ Yes32K~32.5 tok/s26.2 GB
Q5_K_M25.3 GB✓ Yes32K~36.5 tok/s22.7 GB
Q4_K_M22 GB✓ Yes64K~41.3 tok/s19.3 GB
Q3_K_M16.3 GB✓ Yes64K~52.9 tok/s13.6 GB
Q2_K13.2 GB✓ Yes64K~62.6 tok/s10.5 GB

What to watch out for

MacBook Pro M4 Max 48 GB limitations

Recommended setup

Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput

How these numbers are calculated

FAQ

Can I run IBM Granite 4.0 on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB)?

Yes — Granite 4.0 Small-H 32B-A9B at Q6_K needs about 28.9 GB of the 36 GB usable on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB) (~7.1 GB spare), at ~32.5 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 32,768 tokens of context.

Which quantization of IBM Granite 4.0 should I use on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB)?

Q6_K — it needs about 28.9 GB of the 36 GB available, downloads as roughly 26.2 GB, and runs at an estimated 32.5 tokens/sec with up to 32K of context.

What limits IBM Granite 4.0 on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 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 MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB)

IBM Granite 4.0 on GPUs

What This Model Is Good At

Model & Tools

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