Can I Run Llama 3.2 Vision on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)?
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated September 25, 2024
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — Llama 3.2 Vision 11B at Q8_0 needs about 13.4 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB), leaving ~34.6 GB spare and running at ~23.3 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 65,536 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~23.3 tok/s
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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 |
Llama 3.2 Vision on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB): memory by quantization
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 48 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 23.3 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~13.1 tok/s | 21.2 GB |
| Q8_0 | 13.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~23.3 tok/s | 11.3 GB |
| Q6_K | 10.8 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~29.2 tok/s | 8.7 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 9.7 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~33 tok/s | 7.5 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 8.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~37.6 tok/s | 6.4 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 6.7 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~49.2 tok/s | 4.5 GB |
| Q2_K | 5.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~59.2 tok/s | 3.5 GB |
Which Llama 3.2 Vision sizes fit
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.2 Vision 90B | 57.8 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Llama 3.2 Vision 11B | 8.5 GB | ✓ Fits | ~37.6 tok/s |
What to watch out for
- 1 larger variant of Llama 3.2 Vision does not fit and would need CPU offload or different hardware.
- 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 Llama 3.2 Vision on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)?
Yes, comfortably — Llama 3.2 Vision 11B at Q8_0 needs about 13.4 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB), leaving ~34.6 GB spare and running at ~23.3 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 65,536 tokens of context.
Which quantization of Llama 3.2 Vision should I use on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)?
Q8_0 — it needs about 13.4 GB of the 48 GB available, downloads as roughly 11.3 GB, and runs at an estimated 23.3 tokens/sec with up to 64K of context.
What limits Llama 3.2 Vision 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)
- Llama 3.3 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- Llama 4 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- Llama 4.5 on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- Magistral Small on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
- MiniCPM-V on Mac Studio (M4 Max, 64 GB)
Llama 3.2 Vision on GPUs
- Llama 3.2 Vision on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
- Llama 3.2 Vision on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB
- Llama 3.2 Vision on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
- Llama 3.2 Vision on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
What This Model Is Good At
Model & Tools
← Can I Run It? | Llama 3.2 Vision model page | Check your hardware