Rent a GPU

Can the Apple M3 Max (64GB) run Llama 3.2 3B?

Apple M3 Max (64GB) × Llama 3.2 3B8K context
YesRuns fully on the GPU
Memory at FP168 GB of 48 GB
Weights 6.4 GBKV cache 0.9 GBRuntime 0.6 GB
QuantFP16Full quality
Memory8 GBof 48 GB usable
Speed~37tokens per second
  1. FP16
  2. Q8_0
  3. Q6_K
  4. Q5_K_M
  5. Q4_K_M
  6. Q3_K_M
  7. Q2_K

Yes. The Apple M3 Max (64GB) can run Llama 3.2 3B fully in unified memory at FP16 (full quality), using about 8 GB of the 48 GB available, at roughly 37 tokens/second.

Try other context lengths

Run it with Ollama

With Ollama installed, one command downloads and starts Llama 3.2 3B:

ollama run llama3.2:3b

Ollama's default download is Q4_K_M (about 3.5 GB here). You have room for FP16, which is full quality: pick that GGUF in LM Studio or from Hugging Face.

New to this? Step-by-step setup for the Apple M3 Max (64GB)

Run it in the cloud

No Apple M3 Max (64GB)? Run Llama 3.2 3B in the cloud.

Rent a cloud GPU by the hour. No upfront cost, stop any time.

Rent a GPU on RunPodRent a GPU on Vast.ai

Memory needed by quantization

At 8,192 tokens of context. The black line marks the 48 GB the Apple M3 Max (64GB) can use. macOS lets the GPU use about 48 GB of the 64 GB unified memory by default.

QuantQualityMemoryFits?Speed
FP16Full quality8 GBFits~37 tok/s
Q8_0Near-lossless5 GBFits~70 tok/s
Q6_KExcellent4.2 GBFits~91 tok/s
Q5_K_MVery good3.8 GBFits~105 tok/s
Q4_K_MGood, most popular3.5 GBFits~123 tok/s
Q3_K_MNoticeably degraded3.1 GBFits~153 tok/s
Q2_KHeavily degraded2.7 GBFits~199 tok/s

GPUs that run Llama 3.2 3B comfortably

Models that run well on the Apple M3 Max (64GB)

Frequently asked questions

Can Apple M3 Max (64GB) run Llama 3.2 3B?

Yes. The Apple M3 Max (64GB) can run Llama 3.2 3B fully in unified memory at FP16 (full quality), using about 8 GB of the 48 GB available, at roughly 37 tokens/second.

How much VRAM does Llama 3.2 3B need?

About 3.5 GB at Q4_K_M with 8,192 tokens of context, and about 8 GB at full FP16 precision.

How fast is Llama 3.2 3B on the Apple M3 Max (64GB)?

Roughly 37 tokens per second at FP16, estimated from the Apple M3 Max (64GB)'s 400 GB/s memory bandwidth.