Best models for this Mac
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 24GB 16-inch ranked for coding with a most capable bias, using the best available runtime evidence.
| Rank | Model | Score | Quant | Tok/s | Runtime | Evidence | Headroom | Why it ranks here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qwen 3 32B | 242 | Q4_K_M | 22.0 tok/s | Ollama | Estimated | 4.0 GB | Q4_K_M 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. 4.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 2 | Qwen3.5-27B | 238 | Q5_K_M | 20.6 tok/s | MLX | Estimated | 3.6 GB | Q5_K_M is the highest practical quality here. 20.6 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 3.6 GB headroom is tight. |
| 3 | Devstral Small 1.1 | 236 | Q6_K | 43.0 tok/s | LM Studio | Estimated | 3.9 GB | Q6_K 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. 3.9 GB headroom is tight. |
| 4 | Devstral Small 2 24B | 236 | Q6_K | 25.3 tok/s | MLX | Estimated | 3.9 GB | Q6_K is the highest practical quality here. 25.3 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 3.9 GB headroom is tight. |
| 5 | Gemma 3 27B | 227 | Q5 | 14.5 tok/s | LM Studio | Estimated | 3.7 GB | Q5 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. 3.7 GB headroom is tight. |
| 6 | DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B | 220 | Q4_K_M | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 4.0 GB | Q4_K_M is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 4.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 7 | Mistral Small 3.1 24B | 214 | Q6_K | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 3.9 GB | Q6_K is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 3.9 GB headroom is tight. |
| 8 | Magistral Small | 214 | Q6_K | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 3.9 GB | Q6_K is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 3.9 GB headroom is tight. |
| 9 | Nemotron-3-Nano-30B-A3B | 203 | Q5 | 43.7 tok/s | llama.cpp | Estimated | 5.6 GB | Q5 is the highest practical quality here. 43.7 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 5.6 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 10 | Qwen 3 8B | 202 | 8bit | 63.1 tok/s | LM Studio | Estimated | 14.7 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. 14.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 11 | Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B | 202 | Q5 | 58.5 tok/s | llama.cpp | Estimated | 5.4 GB | Q5 is the highest practical quality here. 58.5 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with llama.cpp backend as the best runtime hint. 5.4 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 12 | Qwen 3 30B-A3B | 202 | Q5 | 76.7 tok/s | MLX | Estimated | 5.0 GB | Q5 is the highest practical quality here. 76.7 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 5.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 13 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | 200 | Q4_K_M | 80.0 tok/s | MLX | Estimated | 4.2 GB | Q4_K_M is the highest practical quality here. 80.0 tok/s estimated from nearby benchmark coverage, with MLX backend as the best runtime hint. 4.2 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 14 | Llama 2 7B | 199 | 8bit | 36.4 tok/s | llama.cpp | Estimated | 13.2 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. 13.2 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 15 | Qwen3.5-9B | 196 | 8bit | 15.0 tok/s | llama.cpp | Estimated | 14.1 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. 14.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 16 | Qwen 2.5 14B | 184 | 8bit | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 9.0 GB | 8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 9.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 17 | Phi-4 14B | 183 | 8bit | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 9.5 GB | 8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 9.5 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 18 | Qwen 2.5 7B | 181 | 8bit | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 16.0 GB | 8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 16.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 19 | Llama 3.1 8B | 180 | 8bit | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 15.0 GB | 8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 15.0 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 20 | Mistral 7B v0.3 | 180 | 8bit | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 15.7 GB | 8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 15.7 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 21 | Gemma 3 4B | 144 | 8bit | 100.5 tok/s | LM Studio | Estimated | 18.4 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. 18.4 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 22 | Qwen 3 4B | 144 | 8bit | 143.2 tok/s | MLX | Estimated | 18.6 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. 18.6 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 23 | Qwen 3 0.6B | 144 | 8bit | 184.4 tok/s | LM Studio | Estimated | 22.8 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. 22.8 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
| 24 | Llama 3.2 1B | 122 | 8bit | Measure it | Best available | Fit-first | 22.1 GB | 8bit is the highest practical quality here. Speed still needs direct measurement. 22.1 GB headroom leaves workable context margin. |
Machine
24GBUnified memory
$2,499MSRP
macbook_proForm factor
m4-proChip