Llama 3.1 70B Instruct on Apple M4 Max (64GB Unified)
Apple M4 Max (64GB Unified) can run Llama 3.1 70B Instruct at 8 tok/s at Q4_K_M, though performance is acceptable. Consider a higher-end GPU for better results.
Model Size
70.6B
Device VRAM
64 GB
Bandwidth
546 GB/s
Quantizations Tested
1
Performance by Quantization
Each row shows Llama 3.1 70B Instruct performance at a different quality level on Apple M4 Max (64GB Unified).
| Quantization | Speed | TTFT | Fits in VRAM | Rating | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4_K_M | 8 tok/s | 1500ms | ✓ Yes | Acceptable | estimated |
Notes
Q4_K_M
Q4 at 39.5GB fits in 64GB unified memory with 24.5GB for system. Slow but functional. Apple Silicon's strength is that it works at all.
About Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct (70.6B) is a chat, coding, ai coding, reasoning, multi-purpose model. Frontier-class open model. Approaches GPT-4 quality on many benchmarks. Requires significant VRAM — 48GB+ recommended for usable quantizations. Excellent for serious local deployment.
View all Llama 3.1 70B Instruct hardware options →About Apple M4 Max (64GB Unified)
Apple M4 Max (64GB Unified) has 64 GB at 546 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 16", Mac Studio.
See all models Apple M4 Max (64GB Unified) can run →Source: MLX 70B model reports (2026-01-15)
Data last updated: 2026-03-01