OpenAIWhisper Large V3 Turbo on Apple M3 (8GB Unified)
Yes — M3 (8GB Unified) handles Whisper Large V3 Turbo well at FP16 — 923ms first response. Solid daily-driver performance on 8 GB VRAM.
Model Size
810M
Device VRAM
8 GB
Bandwidth
100 GB/s
Quantization
FP16
Performance by Quantization
OwnRig currently has one published compatibility entry for Whisper Large V3 Turbo on Apple M3 (8GB Unified) at FP16. This is the best supported pairing we can stand behind today.
| Quantization | Speed | TTFT | Fits in VRAM | Rating | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP16 | – | 923ms | ✓ Yes | Good | estimated |
Notes
FP16
Conservative estimate. Uses FP16 (1.6GB), the highest-quality format that fits within ~5.5GB usable memory.
About Whisper Large V3 Turbo
Whisper Large V3 Turbo (810M) is a transcription model. Distilled version of Whisper Large V3. 8x faster than the full model with minimal quality loss. The go-to for real-time transcription on local hardware. Runs comfortably on any GPU with 2GB+ VRAM.
View all Whisper Large V3 Turbo 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: Conservative estimate anchored to m4-16gb with bandwidth scaling, quantization-size adjustment, and generation damping. 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.