Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated April 28, 2025
Yes, but it is tight
Yes, but it is tight — Qwen 3 14B at Q8_0 needs about 17.9 GB of the 18 GB usable on MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro, 24 GB), leaving only ~0.1 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~8.9 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Confidence: medium · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~8.9 tok/s
| Usable memory for models | 18 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 273 GB/s |
| Form factor | Laptop |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
| Price | $1,999 (lib/data/laptops.ts (street price), checked 2026-07-06) |
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 18 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 31.7 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 29.6 GB |
| Q8_0 | 17.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~8.9 tok/s | 15.7 GB |
| Q6_K | 14.3 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~11.3 tok/s | 12.1 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 12.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | ~12.9 tok/s | 10.5 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 11.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | ~14.9 tok/s | 8.9 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 8.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~20.1 tok/s | 6.3 GB |
| Q2_K | 7 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~25 tok/s | 4.9 GB |
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen 3 235B-A22B (MoE) | 144.3 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Qwen 3 32B | 22.8 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Qwen 3 30B-A3B (MoE) | 20 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Qwen 3 14B | 11.1 GB | ✓ Fits | ~14.9 tok/s |
| Qwen 3 8B | 7 GB | ✓ Fits | ~24.9 tok/s |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes, but it is tight — Qwen 3 14B at Q8_0 needs about 17.9 GB of the 18 GB usable on MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro, 24 GB), leaving only ~0.1 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~8.9 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Q8_0 — it needs about 17.9 GB of the 18 GB available, downloads as roughly 15.7 GB, and runs at an estimated 8.9 tokens/sec with up to 8K 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