Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified)
Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) runs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct excellently at 100 tok/s at Q8_0. This is a strong pairing.
Model Size
3.21B
Device VRAM
128 GB
Bandwidth
546 GB/s
Quantizations Tested
1
Performance by Quantization
Each row shows Llama 3.2 3B Instruct performance at a different quality level on Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified).
| Quantization | Speed | TTFT | Fits in VRAM | Rating | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q8_0 | 100 tok/s | 45ms | ✓ Yes | Excellent | estimated |
Notes
Q8_0
Bandwidth-bound. 3B runs at full M4 Max speed with 124GB headroom.
About Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (3.21B) is a chat, coding, ai coding, reasoning model. Ultra-lightweight model that runs on virtually any GPU. Surprisingly capable for its size — good at summarization, simple coding tasks, and quick chat. The default choice when speed matters more than depth.
View all Llama 3.2 3B Instruct hardware options →About Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified)
Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) has 128 GB at 546 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 16", Mac Studio.
See all models Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) can run →Source: MLX performance estimates based on device bandwidth (2026-03-15)
Data last updated: 2026-03-15