MetaLlama 3.2 3B Instruct on Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified)
Yes — M4 Max (128GB Unified) runs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct excellently at Q8_0 — 100 tok/s. 128 GB VRAM with plenty of headroom.
Model Size
3.21B
Device VRAM
128 GB
Bandwidth
546 GB/s
Quantization
Q8_0
Performance by Quantization
OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for Llama 3.2 3B Instruct on Apple M4 Max (128GB Unified) at Q8_0. This is the best supported pairing we can stand behind today.
| 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 →Estimate method: MLX performance estimates based on device bandwidth. Reference hardware source: github.com (2026-03-15)
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.