Canonical Rankings

Best Macs for this model

Llama 3.3 70B ranked across the Mac lineup at the best practical quantization, using the best available runtime evidence. Historical baseline selected; model picker is focused on current-market choices.

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29 ranked MacsUse the strongest current runtime evidence for each row.27 other historical models hiddenBaselinesStatic paths cover only canonical model pages; sort and quantization stay as query state.

Historical baseline selected: Llama 3.3 70B. Default model choices remain current-market; other historical models stay hidden.

Rank	Mac	Score	Quant	Tok/s	Runtime	Fits	Headroom	Context	Evidence	Price	Why it ranks here
1	Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB	287	8bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	187.2 GB	131k	Estimated	$7,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 187.2 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
2	Mac Pro M2 Ultra 192GB	223	8bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	123.2 GB	131k	Estimated	$6,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 123.2 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
3	MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB 16-inch	185	8bit	15.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 15.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	59.2 GB	131k	Estimated	$5,399	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 15.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 59.2 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
4	Mac Studio M4 Max 128GB	159	8bit	6.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 4bit · 11.8 tok/s · LM Studio · Community row	LM Studio	Fits	59.2 GB	131k	Community row	$4,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 6.5 tok/s is backed by direct benchmark coverage. 59.2 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
5	MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB 16-inch	159	8bit	6.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 4bit · 11.8 tok/s · LM Studio · Community row	LM Studio	Fits	59.2 GB	131k	Community row	$5,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 6.5 tok/s is backed by direct benchmark coverage. 59.2 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
6	Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB	127	8bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	27.2 GB	50k	Estimated	$3,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 27.2 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
7	Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB	106	6bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 6bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	11.7 GB	15k	Estimated	$2,999	6bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 11.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
8	MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB 16-inch	106	6bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 6bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	11.7 GB	15k	Estimated	$4,499	6bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 11.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
9	Mac Mini M4 Pro 48GB	95	Q4_K_M	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: Q4_K_M · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	7.4 GB	9k	Estimated	$1,599	Q4_K_M is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.4 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
10	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB 14-inch	95	Q4_K_M	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: Q4_K_M · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	7.4 GB	9k	Estimated	$2,499	Q4_K_M is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.4 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
11	Mac Studio M4 Max 48GB	95	Q4_K_M	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: Q4_K_M · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	7.4 GB	9k	Estimated	$2,499	Q4_K_M is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.4 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
12	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB 16-inch	95	Q4_K_M	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: Q4_K_M · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	7.4 GB	9k	Estimated	$2,999	Q4_K_M is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.4 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
13	MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB 14-inch	95	Q4_K_M	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: Q4_K_M · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	7.4 GB	9k	Estimated	$3,499	Q4_K_M is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.4 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
14	MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB 16-inch	95	Q4_K_M	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: Q4_K_M · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	7.4 GB	9k	Estimated	$3,999	Q4_K_M is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.4 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
15	Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB	66	3bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 3bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	8.3 GB	18k	Estimated	$1,999	3bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 8.3 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
16	MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GB 14-inch	66	3bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 3bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	8.3 GB	18k	Estimated	$2,999	3bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 8.3 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
17	MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GB 16-inch	66	3bit	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 3bit · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	8.3 GB	18k	Estimated	$3,499	3bit is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 8.3 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
18	Mac Mini M4 32GB	65	mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	6.8 GB	15k	Estimated	$799	mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 6.8 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
19	MacBook Air M4 32GB 13-inch	65	mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	6.8 GB	15k	Estimated	$1,499	mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 6.8 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
20	MacBook Air M4 32GB 15-inch	65	mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	6.8 GB	15k	Estimated	$1,699	mlx-dynamic-2.7bpw is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 6.8 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
21	Mac Mini M4 24GB	62	IQ2_K_S	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: IQ2_K_S · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	3.7 GB	9k	Estimated	$599	IQ2_K_S is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 3.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
22	MacBook Air M4 24GB 13-inch	62	IQ2_K_S	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: IQ2_K_S · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	3.7 GB	9k	Estimated	$1,299	IQ2_K_S is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 3.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
23	Mac Mini M4 Pro 24GB	62	IQ2_K_S	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: IQ2_K_S · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	3.7 GB	9k	Estimated	$1,399	IQ2_K_S is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 3.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
24	MacBook Air M4 24GB 15-inch	62	IQ2_K_S	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: IQ2_K_S · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	3.7 GB	9k	Estimated	$1,499	IQ2_K_S is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 3.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
25	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 24GB 14-inch	62	IQ2_K_S	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: IQ2_K_S · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	3.7 GB	9k	Estimated	$1,999	IQ2_K_S is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 3.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
26	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 24GB 16-inch	62	IQ2_K_S	8.5 tok/s Fastest evidence path: IQ2_K_S · 8.5 tok/s · LM Studio · Estimated	LM Studio	Fits	3.7 GB	9k	Estimated	$2,499	IQ2_K_S is the current best practical quantization. 8.5 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 3.7 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
27	Mac Mini M4 16GB	0	F32	—	LM Studio	No	-250.0 GB	—	Estimated	$499	Llama 3.3 70B does not fit on Mac Mini M4 16GB at the current practical quantization.
28	MacBook Air M4 16GB 13-inch	0	F32	—	LM Studio	No	-250.0 GB	—	Estimated	$1,099	Llama 3.3 70B does not fit on MacBook Air M4 16GB 13-inch at the current practical quantization.
29	MacBook Air M4 16GB 15-inch	0	F32	—	LM Studio	No	-250.0 GB	—	Estimated	$1,299	Llama 3.3 70B does not fit on MacBook Air M4 16GB 15-inch at the current practical quantization.

Llama 3.3 70B — ranking first, raw rows below

Start with the ranked Mac table above. Use the rest of this page to inspect raw Apple Silicon coverage and model metadata.

Quantizations observed: Q4_K - Medium, 4bit, 8bit, Q8_0

17Benchmark rows

8Chip tiers covered

18.0Fastest avg tok/s (M4 Ultra (192 GB))

—Minimum RAM observed

Quick take

Fastest published result is 18.0 tok/s on M4 Ultra (192 GB) at Q4_K - Medium. Longest published context on this page is 40k. Published runtimes include llama.cpp, LM Studio, MLX, Ollama. Start with Rankings for the decision, then use the raw rows below to audit the evidence.

Based on 17 external benchmarks; no lab runs yet.

Published runtimes: llama.cpp, LM Studio, MLX, Ollama.

Need the best Mac for this model? Use Buy Need a setup-first answer? Use Run Checking whether it fits? Use Fit Browse Macs by exact hardware Need the full audit trail? Use Bench Comparing against rented GPUs? Use AI Datacenter Index

Catalog record

70.6BTotal params

DenseActive params

131,072Context window

2024-12-06Release date

This is a reference-only model record. It remains useful for historical benchmarks, migration checks, and audit context, but it is excluded from current frontier packs.

What this model is, and what Apple Silicon users are actually seeing

Official model cards tell you what the model is for and which software stacks it targets. Field reality below shows how much Apple Silicon evidence we have so far.

Official brief

Llama 3.3 70B official metadata records LlamaForCausalLM architecture, 70.554B total parameters, and LLAMA3.3 license.

Official source

codingreasoning

Runtime support mentioned

Transformers

Official specs

Architecture: LlamaForCausalLM.
Total parameters: 70.554B.
License: LLAMA3.3.

Official model cards describe intent, capabilities, and supported stacks. They do not prove Apple Silicon speed by themselves.

Field reality on Apple Silicon

Llama 3.3 70B: 11 Apple Silicon field reports; best reported generation ~15.5 tok/s; best reported prompt processing ~150 tok/s; seen on Mac Studio M3 ULTRA 512GB, MacBook Pro M4 MAX 128GB, MacBook Pro M2 MAX 128GB; via MLX, llama.cpp, Ollama.

17Benchmark rows

11Field reports

8Practitioner signals

Sparse BenchmarksEvidence status

What practitioners keep saying

The owner reports about 5 tok/s for Llama 3.3 70B Q4_K_M in Ollama on a maxed-out M4 Pro Mac mini with 64GB of unified memory.
The same thread reports a slower Q3_K_L LM Studio range, reinforcing that this tier can host 70B locally but remains a deliberate tradeoff machine.
The owner reports Llama 3.3 70B 4-bit MLX on an M3 Ultra 512GB Mac Studio at 7800 tokens context with 15.5 tok/s generation and 150 tok/s prompt eval.

Apple Silicon field sources

r/LocalLLaMA
2025-06-24 · Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB, MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB · llama.cpp, Ollama
Llama 3.3 70B reaches real but clearly premium-tier usability on a Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB, giving Silicon Score a needed mid-tier Apple desktop reference point.
r/LocalLLaMA
2025-03-18 · Mac Studio M3 Ultra 512GB · MLX
Llama 3.3 70B 4-bit MLX scales up on M3 Ultra 512GB well enough to stay usable, but near-40K context still slows generation.
r/LocalLLaMA
2025-01-22 · MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB · LM Studio (MLX)
Llama 3.3 70B 4-bit is usable on a top-end M4 Max laptop in short-context LM Studio MLX runs, but it remains a premium tradeoff model rather than a fast default.
r/LocalLLaMA
2025-01-07 · MacBook Pro M2 Max 38-core 64GB · LM Studio (MLX)
Llama 3.3 70B is already workable on a 64GB M2 Max tier, giving Silicon Score a more realistic older-premium laptop reference than an Ultra desktop or 128GB flagship notebook alone.
r/LocalLLaMA
2024-12-14 · M3 Max 64GB · llama.cpp
Llama 3.3 70B is workable on a 64GB M3 Max for single-request local use, but the source makes the long-context tax visible instead of hiding it behind one headline speed number.

Runtime mentions in the field

llama.cppLM StudioMLXOllama

Hardware mentioned in reports

64GB128GBM3 UltraM4M4 ProMacMac MiniMac Studio

What would improve confidence

Reproduce Field Performance Signal
Upgrade To First Party Measurement

Current published coverage

Published chip coverage includes M4 Ultra (192 GB), M3 Ultra (512 GB), M5 Max (128 GB), M1 Ultra (64 GB), M4 Max (128 GB) plus 3 more chip tiers. Fastest published row is 18.0 tok/s on M4 Ultra (192 GB) at Q4_K - Medium. Catalog context window is 40k.

M4 Ultra (192 GB)M3 Ultra (512 GB)M5 Max (128 GB)M1 Ultra (64 GB)M4 Max (128 GB)M2 Max (38-core GPU, 64 GB)M3 Max (GPU count not published, 64 GB)M4 Pro (64 GB)

Raw benchmark rows for Llama 3.3 70B

Rows stay below the ranking because this page is answer-first. Use them to inspect exact chips, quantizations, runtimes, and sources.

Chip	Quant	RAM req.	Context	Avg tok/s	Prompt tok/s	Runtime	Source
M4 Ultra (192 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	18.0 tok/s	—	MLX	ref
M3 Ultra (512 GB)	4bit	—	8k	15.5 tok/s	150.0 tok/s	LM Studio	ref
M5 Max (128 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	15.0 tok/s	—	MLX	ref
M1 Ultra (64 GB)	4bit	—	4k	12.6 tok/s	—	LM Studio	ref
M5 Max (128 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	12.0 tok/s	—	Ollama	ref
M4 Max (128 GB)	4bit	—	—	11.8 tok/s	—	LM Studio	ref
M3 Ultra (512 GB)	4bit	—	40k	9.6 tok/s	103.0 tok/s	LM Studio	ref
M2 Max (38-core GPU, 64 GB)	4bit	—	—	8.8 tok/s	—	LM Studio	ref
M3 Ultra (512 GB)	8bit	—	8k	8.5 tok/s	150.0 tok/s	LM Studio	ref
M3 Max (GPU count not published, 64 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	258	8.2 tok/s	67.9 tok/s	llama.cpp	ref
M3 Max (GPU count not published, 64 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	8k	7.5 tok/s	65.2 tok/s	llama.cpp	ref
M3 Max (GPU count not published, 64 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	16k	7.0 tok/s	59.5 tok/s	llama.cpp	ref
M3 Ultra (512 GB)	8bit	—	40k	6.5 tok/s	101.0 tok/s	LM Studio	ref
M4 Max (128 GB)	8bit	—	—	6.5 tok/s	—	LM Studio	ref
M3 Max (GPU count not published, 64 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	32k	6.1 tok/s	50.3 tok/s	llama.cpp	ref
M4 Pro (64 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	5.0 tok/s	—	Ollama	ref
M4 Max (128 GB)	Q8_0	—	36k	4.5 tok/s	58.0 tok/s	llama.cpp	ref

Best Macs for Llama 3.3 70B

Ordered by fastest published tok/s on the chip family in each Mac. Click through for the full machine page.

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB — 15.5 tok/s Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB — 15.5 tok/s MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB 16-inch — 15.0 tok/s MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GB 14-inch — 11.8 tok/s MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB 14-inch — 11.8 tok/s MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GB 16-inch — 11.8 tok/s

Chips with published results for Llama 3.3 70B

M4 Ultra (192 GB)M3 Ultra (512 GB)M5 Max (128 GB)M1 Ultra (64 GB)M4 Max (128 GB)M2 Max (38-core GPU, 64 GB)M3 Max (GPU count not published, 64 GB)M4 Pro (64 GB)

Data

benchmarks.json — full dataset · models.json — model summaries · benchmarks.csv — CSV export

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