Can I Run MiniMax M3 on Mac Studio (M2 Ultra, 192 GB)?

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated June 26, 2026

Yes, but it is tight

Yes, but it is tight — MiniMax M3 230B-A10B at Q4_K_M needs about 143.2 GB of the 144 GB usable on Mac Studio (M2 Ultra, 192 GB), leaving only ~0.8 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~48.1 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.

Confidence: low · Recommended quantization: Q4_K_M · Estimated speed: ~48.1 tok/s

Mac Studio (M2 Ultra, 192 GB) — what it gives a model

Usable memory for models	144 GB
Memory bandwidth	800 GB/s
Form factor	Desktop
Operating system	macOS
Memory upgradeable	No — soldered

MiniMax M3 on Mac Studio (M2 Ultra, 192 GB): memory by quantization

Quant	Memory needed	Fits 144 GB?	Max context	Est. speed	Download
F16	464.3 GB	✗ No	—	—	460 GB
Q8_0	248.7 GB	✗ No	—	—	244.4 GB
Q6_K	192.9 GB	✗ No	—	—	188.6 GB
Q5_K_M	167.3 GB	✗ No	—	—	163 GB
Q4_K_M	143.2 GB	✓ Yes	8K	~48.1 tok/s	138.9 GB
Q3_K_M	102.4 GB	✓ Yes	64K	~59.7 tok/s	98 GB
Q2_K	79.9 GB	✓ Yes	128K	~68.9 tok/s	75.6 GB

Which MiniMax M3 sizes fit

Variant	Needs at Q4_K_M	Fits?	Est. speed
MiniMax M3 230B-A10B	143.2 GB	✓ Fits	~48.1 tok/s
MiniMax M3-VL	143.2 GB	✓ Fits	~48.1 tok/s

What to watch out for

Only ~0.8 GB of headroom at Q4_K_M: a longer context or a second application can push this into swapping.
This model does not publish its full attention configuration, so the KV-cache share of these figures is inferred from its parameter count rather than computed exactly.
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 M2 Ultra 192 GB limitations

Superseded by the M3 Ultra, which is why it is often the better used buy for large-model work.
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.
192 GB unified memory at 800 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 inferred from the parameter count because this model does not publish its full attention configuration.

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