Can I Run Phi 3.5 Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated August 20, 2024
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — Phi 3.5 Mini at Q8_0 needs about 5.6 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB), leaving ~42.4 GB spare and running at ~30.6 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 131,072 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~30.6 tok/s
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Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB) — what it gives a model
| Usable memory for models | 48 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 273 GB/s |
| Form factor | Mini PC |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
Phi 3.5 Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB): memory by quantization
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 48 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 9.2 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~17.7 tok/s | 7.6 GB |
| Q8_0 | 5.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~30.6 tok/s | 4 GB |
| Q6_K | 4.7 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~37.7 tok/s | 3.1 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 4.3 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~42.2 tok/s | 2.7 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 3.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~47.6 tok/s | 2.3 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 3.2 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~60.5 tok/s | 1.6 GB |
| Q2_K | 2.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 128K | ~71.2 tok/s | 1.2 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 mini M4 Pro 64 GB limitations
- M4 Pro memory bandwidth is half the M4 Max's, so large models that fit will still generate roughly half as fast.
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 273 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 Phi 3.5 Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Yes, comfortably — Phi 3.5 Mini at Q8_0 needs about 5.6 GB of the 48 GB usable on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB), leaving ~42.4 GB spare and running at ~30.6 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 131,072 tokens of context.
Which quantization of Phi 3.5 Family should I use on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)?
Q8_0 — it needs about 5.6 GB of the 48 GB available, downloads as roughly 4 GB, and runs at an estimated 30.6 tokens/sec with up to 128K of context.
What limits Phi 3.5 Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 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 mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Phi-4 Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Phi-4 Mini on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Poolside Laguna XS 2.1 on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Qwen 2.5 Family on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
- Qwen 2.5 VL on Mac mini (M4 Pro, 64 GB)
Phi 3.5 Family on GPUs
- Phi 3.5 Family on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB
- Phi 3.5 Family on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060
- Phi 3.5 Family on NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060
What This Model Is Good At
Model & Tools
← Can I Run It? | Phi 3.5 Family model page | Check your hardware