Apple M3 Pro — Local LLM Performance & Compatibility

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated July 12, 2026

The 3nm upgrade to M2 Pro. Up to 36 GB unified memory at 153 GB/s. 55 t/s on 8B models. Handles Qwen 3 14B and Phi-4 14B comfortably at Q4. 30W total system power in a laptop.

Technical Specifications

VRAM36 GB unified memory
Memory Bandwidth153 GB/s
TDP30 W
ArchitectureARM, 3nm TSMC
Release Year2023
MSRP at Launch$1,999
Inference Speed (Llama 3.1 8B Q4_K_M)9.7–20 tok/s (estimated)
Inference Speed (Llama 3.3 70B Q4_K_M)Does not fit — needs ~44 GB of 27 GB usable
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Apple MacBook Pro M3 Pro
Launch MSRP: $1,999
2026 prices are volatile — check the current listing.
Check price on Amazon

LLMs Compatible with 36 GB Unified Memory

All models below run comfortably in 36 GB unified memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

Llama 3.1 FamilyLlama 3.1 8B Instruct · 6 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run llama3.1
Llama 3.2 FamilyLlama 3.2 11B Vision Instruct · 7 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · llama-3-2
Qwen 3Qwen 3 32B · 21 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run qwen3:32b
Gemma 3Gemma 3 27B Instruct · 17 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run gemma3:27b
Phi-4 FamilyPhi-4 (14B) · 9 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run phi4
Phi-4 MiniPhi-4 Mini (3.8B) · 3 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run phi4-mini
Mistral FamilyMistral Small 3 (24B) · 15 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run mistral-small
DeepSeek R1DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B · 20 GB VRAM · Q4_K_M · ollama run deepseek-r1:32b

Best Use Cases

Quick Start with Ollama

Install Ollama then run the recommended model for this GPU:

ollama run qwen3:14b

FAQ

Can the Apple M3 Pro run local LLMs?

Yes — the Apple M3 Pro has 36 GB unified memory and runs The 3nm upgrade to M2 Pro. Up to 36 GB unified memory at 153 GB/s. 55 t/s on 8B models. Handles Qwen 3 14B and Phi-4 14B

How fast is the Apple M3 Pro for AI inference?

The Apple M3 Pro is estimated to run Llama 3.1 8B at 9.7–20 tok/s with Q4_K_M quantization. Llama 3.3 70B does not fit: it needs about 44 GB against 27 GB usable. These are modelled estimates, not measurements — see /en/methodology.

What LLMs can I run on 36 GB VRAM?

With 36 GB you can run: Llama 3.1 Family, Llama 3.2 Family, Qwen 3, Gemma 3, Phi-4 Family. Use Ollama for the easiest setup: ollama run qwen3:14b.

Can I Run It? — Apple M3 Pro

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