QwenQwen 2.5 72B Instruct on Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)
M3 Pro (18GB Unified) cannot run Qwen 2.5 72B Instruct. 18 GB VRAM is insufficient at any quantization level.
Model Size
72.7B
Device VRAM
18 GB
Bandwidth
150 GB/s
Quantization
Q2_K
Performance by Quantization
OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for Qwen 2.5 72B Instruct on Apple M3 Pro (18GB 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
72B doesn't fit in 18GB unified.
About Qwen 2.5 72B Instruct
Qwen 2.5 72B Instruct (72.7B) is a chat, coding, ai coding, reasoning, multi-purpose model. Top-tier 72B model, competitive with Llama 3.1 70B. Capable at coding and structured output. Requires 48 GB+ VRAM for usable quantizations.
View all Qwen 2.5 72B Instruct hardware options →About Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified)
Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) has 18 GB at 150 GB/s. Available in MacBook Pro 14", MacBook Pro 16".
See all models Apple M3 Pro (18GB Unified) can run →Estimate method: MLX performance estimates. 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.