Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated February 28, 2024
Yes — comfortably
Yes, comfortably — StarCoder 2 15B at Q8_0 needs about 17.9 GB of the 36 GB usable on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB), leaving ~18.1 GB spare and running at ~16.9 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.
Confidence: high · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~16.9 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 | 32.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~9.3 tok/s | 31 GB |
| Q8_0 | 17.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~16.9 tok/s | 16.5 GB |
| Q6_K | 14.2 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~21.5 tok/s | 12.7 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 12.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~24.5 tok/s | 11 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 10.8 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~28.3 tok/s | 9.4 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 8.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~38.2 tok/s | 6.6 GB |
| Q2_K | 6.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~47.3 tok/s | 5.1 GB |
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarCoder 2 15B | 10.8 GB | ✓ Fits | ~28.3 tok/s |
| StarCoder 2 7B | 5.7 GB | ✓ Fits | ~54.3 tok/s |
| StarCoder 2 3B | 2.9 GB | ✓ Fits | ~105.6 tok/s |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes, comfortably — StarCoder 2 15B at Q8_0 needs about 17.9 GB of the 36 GB usable on MacBook Pro 16" (M4 Max, 48 GB), leaving ~18.1 GB spare and running at ~16.9 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.
Q8_0 — it needs about 17.9 GB of the 36 GB available, downloads as roughly 16.5 GB, and runs at an estimated 16.9 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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