Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated January 6, 2025
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — Phi-4 (14B) at Q8_0 needs about 17.4 GB of the 36 GB usable on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB), leaving ~18.6 GB spare and running at ~18 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~18 tok/s
| Usable memory for models | 36 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 546 GB/s |
| Form factor | Laptop |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
| Price | $3,999 (lib/data/laptops.ts (street price), checked 2026-07-06) |
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 36 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 30.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~10.1 tok/s | 28 GB |
| Q8_0 | 17.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~18 tok/s | 14.9 GB |
| Q6_K | 14 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~22.6 tok/s | 11.5 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 12.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~25.7 tok/s | 9.9 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 10.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~29.4 tok/s | 8.5 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 8.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~38.8 tok/s | 6 GB |
| Q2_K | 7.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~47.2 tok/s | 4.6 GB |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes, comfortably — Phi-4 (14B) at Q8_0 needs about 17.4 GB of the 36 GB usable on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB), leaving ~18.6 GB spare and running at ~18 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.
Q8_0 — it needs about 17.4 GB of the 36 GB available, downloads as roughly 14.9 GB, and runs at an estimated 18 tokens/sec with up to 16K of context.
Nothing binding — the model fits with headroom and generates at a usable speed on this hardware.
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
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