DeepSeekDeepSeek V3 on Apple M3 (8GB Unified)
M3 (8GB Unified) cannot run DeepSeek V3. 8 GB VRAM is insufficient at any quantization level.
Model Size
671B
Device VRAM
8 GB
Bandwidth
100 GB/s
Quantization
Q2_K
Performance by Quantization
OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for DeepSeek V3 on Apple M3 (8GB Unified) at Q2_K. This pairing has limitations — check the rating and notes below.
| Quantization | Speed | TTFT | Fits in VRAM | Rating | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K | – | – | ✗ Offload | Not viable | estimated |
Notes
Q2_K
Smallest quantization requires more than the ~5.5GB available on this 8GB Mac.
About DeepSeek V3
DeepSeek V3 (671B) is a chat, coding, ai coding, reasoning, multi-purpose model. Massive MoE model rivaling GPT-4 class. Only ~37B parameters active per token despite 671B total. Requires multi-GPU or very large unified memory (128GB+ Apple Silicon at Q2/Q3). Not for casual home use. Included for completeness and to show what the high end looks like.
View all DeepSeek V3 hardware options →About Apple M3 (8GB Unified)
Apple M3 (8GB Unified) has 8 GB at 100 GB/s. Available in MacBook Air 13" (2024), MacBook Air 15" (2024).
See all models Apple M3 (8GB Unified) can run →Estimate method: Estimated: model exceeds 8GB Mac usable VRAM. Reference hardware source: github.com (2026-04-18)
Performance varies by driver version, inference engine, quantization method, context length, and system configuration. Figures shown are estimates based on community benchmarks and may not reflect your exact setup. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. OwnRig is independent and not affiliated with any hardware or AI model provider.