Best models for this Mac

28 modelsCatalog current through February 27, 2026

MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB 16-inch ranked for coding with a most capable bias, using the best available runtime evidence.

Mac

Capability

Bias

Runtime

Use the strongest current runtime evidence for each row.M5 Max watch: 8B 61.6 tok/s · 14B 34.3 tok/s on the current 36GB public anchor.

Rank	Model	Score	Quant	Tok/s	Runtime	Evidence	Headroom	Why it ranks here
1	Qwen 3 32B	274	8bit	22.0 tok/s	Ollama	Estimated	31.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 22.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with Ollama wrapper on llama.cpp as the best runtime hint. 31.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
2	Qwen3.5-27B	264	8bit	20.6 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	36.4 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 20.6 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 36.4 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
3	Devstral Small 1.1	262	8bit	43.0 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	39.9 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 43.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 39.9 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
4	Devstral Small 2 24B	262	8bit	25.3 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	39.9 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 25.3 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 39.9 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
5	Gemma 3 27B	259	8bit	14.5 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	34.1 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 14.5 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 34.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
6	DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B	252	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	31.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 31.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
7	Llama 3.3 70B	242	6bit	11.8 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	11.7 GB	6bit is the highest practical quality here. 11.8 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 11.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
8	Mistral Small 3.1 24B	240	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	39.9 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 39.9 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
9	Magistral Small	240	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	39.9 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 39.9 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
10	Nemotron-3-Nano-30B-A3B	233	8bit	43.7 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	35.2 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 43.7 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 35.2 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
11	Qwen 3 30B-A3B	233	8bit	84.9 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	34.3 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 84.9 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 34.3 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
12	Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B	233	8bit	58.5 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	34.7 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 58.5 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 34.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
13	Qwen3.5-35B-A3B	232	8bit	80.0 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	30.3 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 80.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 30.3 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
14	GLM-4.7-Flash	232	8bit	36.8 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	28.2 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 36.8 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 28.2 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
15	Qwen 3 8B	211	8bit	63.1 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	54.7 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 63.1 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 54.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
16	Llama 2 7B	209	8bit	36.4 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	53.2 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 36.4 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 53.2 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
17	Qwen3.5-9B	206	8bit	15.0 tok/s	llama.cpp	Estimated	54.1 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 15.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 54.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
18	Qwen 2.5 14B	199	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	49.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 49.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
19	Phi-4 14B	198	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	49.5 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 49.5 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
20	Llama 3.1 8B	189	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	55.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 55.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
21	Qwen 2.5 7B	189	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	56.0 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 56.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
22	Mistral 7B v0.3	188	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	55.7 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 55.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
23	GLM-4.5-Air	162	MXFP4	54.0 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	9.6 GB	MXFP4 is the highest practical quality here. 54.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 9.6 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
24	Qwen3-Coder-Next	156	Q5_K_M	74.0 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	9.8 GB	Q5_K_M is the highest practical quality here. 74.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 9.8 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
25	Gemma 3 4B	150	8bit	100.5 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	58.4 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 100.5 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 58.4 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
26	Qwen 3 4B	150	8bit	143.2 tok/s	MLX	Estimated	58.6 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 143.2 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 58.6 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
27	Qwen 3 0.6B	145	8bit	184.4 tok/s	LM Studio	Estimated	62.8 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. 184.4 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with LM Studio wrapper on mixed as the best runtime hint. 62.8 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.
28	Llama 3.2 1B	124	8bit	Measure it	Best available	Fit-first	62.1 GB	8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 62.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin.

Machine

64GBUnified memory

$4,499MSRP

macbook_proForm factor

m4-maxChip