Can I Run Llama 3.2 Family on Apple M3 Max?

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated September 25, 2024

Yes, comfortably — you'll have ~10 GB of headroom running Llama 3.2 90B Vision Instruct at Q4_K_M (54 GB, ~7 tok/s (est.)).

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Check price on Amazon — Apple MacBook Pro M3 Max

Apple M3 Max Specs

VRAM64 GB unified memory
Memory Bandwidth400 GB/s

Llama 3.2 Family Sizes That Fit the Apple M3 Max

Llama 3.2 90B Vision InstructQ4_K_M · 54 GB · ~7 tok/s (est.)
Llama 3.2 11B Vision InstructQ4_K_M · 7.8 GB · ~51 tok/s (est.)
Llama 3.2 3B InstructQ4_K_M · 2.2 GB · ~182 tok/s (est.)
Llama 3.2 1B InstructQ4_K_M · 0.8 GB · ~400 tok/s (est.)
Buy vs. rent Llama 3.2 Family
Buy the GPU
~$2,499
Apple M3 Max · MSRP
Rent by the hour
from $0.77/hr
A100 (80 GB) class

At 2 hrs/day, buying (~$2,499) beats renting at $0.77/hr after about 4.5 years.

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Vast.ai $0.77/hr · typical low · varies
Rent on Vast.ai →
RunPod $1.39/hr
Rent on RunPod →

Cloud rates verified 2026-07 — estimates, and marketplace prices vary. Buying price is GPU MSRP only, not a full PC.

FAQ

Is the Apple M3 Max enough to run Llama 3.2 Family locally?

Yes, comfortably — you'll have ~10 GB of headroom running Llama 3.2 90B Vision Instruct at Q4_K_M (54 GB, ~7 tok/s (est.)).

What's the best Llama 3.2 Family size for the Apple M3 Max?

Llama 3.2 90B Vision Instruct at Q4_K_M quantization (54 GB), estimated ~7 tokens/sec.

Llama 3.2 Family on Other GPUs

Popular Models on the Apple M3 Max

VRAM Tier

Troubleshooting

Buying Guide

← Can I Run It? | Llama 3.2 Family Model Page | Apple M3 Max GPU Page | Check Your Hardware