Can I Run MiniMax M2.5 on MacBook Pro 16" (M5 Max, 128 GB)?

Autor: Jakub Rusinowski · Ostatnia aktualizacja: 15 lutego 2026

Technically yes, but not recommended

It loads, but it is not worth running — MiniMax M2.5 230B at Q2_K fits in MacBook Pro 16" (M5 Max, 128 GB)'s 96 GB, yet the memory bandwidth limits it to ~4.3 tok/s (estimated), well below usable interactive speed.

Confidence: medium · Recommended quantization: Q2_K · Estimated speed: ~4.3 tok/s

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MacBook Pro 16" (M5 Max, 128 GB) — what it gives a model

Usable memory for models	96 GB
Memory bandwidth	614 GB/s
Form factor	Laptop
Operating system	macOS
Memory upgradeable	No — soldered

MiniMax M2.5 on MacBook Pro 16" (M5 Max, 128 GB): memory by quantization

Quant	Memory needed	Fits 96 GB?	Max context	Est. speed	Download
F16	464.3 GB	✗ No	—	—	460 GB
Q8_0	248.7 GB	✗ No	—	—	244.4 GB
Q6_K	192.9 GB	✗ No	—	—	188.6 GB
Q5_K_M	167.3 GB	✗ No	—	—	163 GB
Q4_K_M	143.2 GB	✗ No	—	—	138.9 GB
Q3_K_M	102.4 GB	✗ No	—	—	98 GB
Q2_K	79.9 GB	✓ Yes	32K	~4.3 tok/s	75.6 GB

What to watch out for

At ~4.3 tok/s this loads but is too slow for interactive use — expect roughly 14 seconds per 60 tokens.
Q2_K is the only quantization that fits, and it is a heavily degraded one — expect noticeably worse output than the same model at Q4_K_M. A smaller model at Q4 is usually the better trade.
1 larger variant of MiniMax M2.5 does not fit and would need CPU offload or different hardware.
This model does not publish its full attention configuration, so the KV-cache share of these figures is inferred from its parameter count rather than computed exactly.
Memory on this machine is not upgradeable, so the configuration you buy is the ceiling for every model you will ever run on it.

MacBook Pro M5 Max 128 GB limitations

Unified memory is soldered and cannot be upgraded after purchase.

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.
128 GB unified memory at 614 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 inferred from the parameter count because this model does not publish its full attention configuration.

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