Can I Run MiniMax M3 on Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256 GB)?

Autor: Jakub Rusinowski · Ostatnia aktualizacja: 25 października 2026

Yes, but it is tight

Yes, but it is tight — MiniMax M3 428B-A23B at Q3_K_M needs about 187.6 GB of the 192 GB usable on Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256 GB), leaving only ~4.4 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~33.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.

Confidence: low · Recommended quantization: Q3_K_M · Estimated speed: ~33.7 tok/s

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Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256 GB) — what it gives a model

Usable memory for models	192 GB
Memory bandwidth	819 GB/s
Form factor	Desktop
Operating system	macOS
Memory upgradeable	No — soldered

MiniMax M3 on Mac Studio (M3 Ultra, 256 GB): memory by quantization

Quant	Memory needed	Fits 192 GB?	Max context	Est. speed	Download
F16	861.2 GB	✗ No	—	—	856 GB
Q8_0	459.9 GB	✗ No	—	—	454.8 GB
Q6_K	356.1 GB	✗ No	—	—	351 GB
Q5_K_M	308.5 GB	✗ No	—	—	303.3 GB
Q4_K_M	263.6 GB	✗ No	—	—	258.4 GB
Q3_K_M	187.6 GB	✓ Yes	16K	~33.7 tok/s	182.4 GB
Q2_K	145.9 GB	✓ Yes	64K	~40.5 tok/s	140.7 GB

Which MiniMax M3 sizes fit

Variant	Needs at Q4_K_M	Fits?	Est. speed
MiniMax M3 428B-A23B	263.6 GB	✗ Too large	—
MiniMax M3.1 Flash 428B-A23B	263.6 GB	✗ Too large	—

What to watch out for

Q3_K_M 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.
2 larger variants of MiniMax M3 do 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.

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256 GB limitations

The largest single-box unified memory pool available, but at roughly half the memory bandwidth of a high-end discrete GPU — very large models load, then run slowly.
Memory is soldered; the configuration chosen at purchase is permanent.

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.
256 GB unified memory at 819 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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