Canonical Rankings

Best Macs for this model

Ministral 3 8B ranked across the Mac lineup at the best practical quantization, using the best available runtime evidence. Model picker is focused on current-market choices.

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

Rank	Mac	Score	Quant	Tok/s	Runtime	Fits	Headroom	Context	Evidence	Price	Why it ranks here
1	Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB	601	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	247.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$7,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 247.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
2	Mac Pro M2 Ultra 192GB	537	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	183.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$6,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 183.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
3	Mac Studio M4 Max 128GB	473	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	119.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$4,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 119.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
4	MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB 16-inch	473	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	119.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$5,399	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 119.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
5	MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB 16-inch	473	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	119.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$5,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 119.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
6	Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB	441	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	87.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$3,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 87.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
7	Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB	409	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	55.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$2,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 55.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
8	MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB 16-inch	409	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	55.0 GB	262k	Estimated	$4,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 55.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
9	Mac Mini M4 Pro 48GB	393	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	39.0 GB	253k	Estimated	$1,599	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 39.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
10	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB 14-inch	393	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	39.0 GB	253k	Estimated	$2,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 39.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
11	Mac Studio M4 Max 48GB	393	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	39.0 GB	253k	Estimated	$2,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 39.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
12	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB 16-inch	393	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	39.0 GB	253k	Estimated	$2,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 39.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
13	MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB 14-inch	393	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	39.0 GB	253k	Estimated	$3,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 39.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
14	MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB 16-inch	393	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	39.0 GB	253k	Estimated	$3,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 39.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
15	Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB	381	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	27.0 GB	175k	Estimated	$1,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 27.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
16	MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GB 14-inch	381	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	27.0 GB	175k	Estimated	$2,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 27.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
17	MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GB 16-inch	381	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	27.0 GB	175k	Estimated	$3,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 27.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
18	Mac Mini M4 32GB	377	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	23.0 GB	148k	Estimated	$799	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 23.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
19	MacBook Air M4 32GB 13-inch	377	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	23.0 GB	148k	Estimated	$1,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 23.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
20	MacBook Air M4 32GB 15-inch	377	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	23.0 GB	148k	Estimated	$1,699	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 23.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
21	Mac Mini M4 24GB	369	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	15.0 GB	96k	Estimated	$599	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 15.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
22	MacBook Air M4 24GB 13-inch	369	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	15.0 GB	96k	Estimated	$1,299	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 15.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
23	Mac Mini M4 Pro 24GB	369	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	15.0 GB	96k	Estimated	$1,399	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 15.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
24	MacBook Air M4 24GB 15-inch	369	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	15.0 GB	96k	Estimated	$1,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 15.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
25	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 24GB 14-inch	369	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	15.0 GB	96k	Estimated	$1,999	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 15.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
26	MacBook Pro M4 Pro 24GB 16-inch	369	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · Ollama · Estimated	Ollama	Fits	15.0 GB	96k	Estimated	$2,499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 15.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
27	Mac Mini M4 16GB	361	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · MLX · Estimated	MLX	Fits	7.0 GB	44k	Estimated	$499	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
28	MacBook Air M4 16GB 13-inch	361	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · MLX · Estimated	MLX	Fits	7.0 GB	44k	Estimated	$1,099	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.
29	MacBook Air M4 16GB 15-inch	361	8bit	72.0 tok/s Fastest evidence path: 8bit · 72.0 tok/s · MLX · Estimated	MLX	Fits	7.0 GB	44k	Estimated	$1,299	8bit is the current best practical quantization. 72.0 tok/s is estimated from nearby benchmark coverage. 7.0 GB headroom remains at this quantization.

Ministral 3 8B — 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

3Benchmark rows

3Chip tiers covered

98.0Fastest avg tok/s (M5 Max (64 GB))

—Minimum RAM observed

Quick take

Fastest published result is 98.0 tok/s on M5 Max (64 GB) at Q4_K - Medium. Published runtimes include LM Studio, MLX, Ollama. Start with Rankings for the decision, then use the raw rows below to audit the evidence.

Based on 3 external benchmarks; no lab runs yet.

Published runtimes: LM Studio, MLX, Ollama.

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Catalog record

8BTotal params

DenseActive params

262,144Context window

2025-12-02Release date

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

Ministral 3 8B is a powerful and efficient model in the Ministral 3 family, offering best-in-class text and vision capabilities. Built for edge deployment, it delivers high performance across diverse hardware, including local setups.

Official source · Raw model card

agentscodingvisual-understanding

Official takeaways

Built for edge deployment, it delivers high performance across diverse hardware, including local setups.
Ministral 3 8B is a powerful and efficient model in the Ministral 3 family, offering best-in-class text and vision capabilities.

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

Field reality on Apple Silicon

No structured Apple Silicon field speed reports yet. Ministral 3 8B. It appears across 3 lenses and 0 budget slices. has 3 Apple Silicon benchmark rows. 2 official model briefs captured. 3 fetched artifacts. No curated practitioner signals yet. No structured Apple Silicon field speed reports yet.

3Benchmark rows

0Field reports

0Practitioner signals

Sparse BenchmarksEvidence status

What would improve confidence

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Current published coverage

Published chip coverage includes M5 Max (64 GB), M4 (16 GB), M3 (16 GB). Fastest published row is 98.0 tok/s on M5 Max (64 GB) at Q4_K - Medium.

M5 Max (64 GB)M4 (16 GB)M3 (16 GB)

Related Ministral 3 models with published pages: Ministral 3 14B

Raw benchmark rows for Ministral 3 8B

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
M5 Max (64 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	98.0 tok/s	—	Ollama	ref
M4 (16 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	72.0 tok/s	—	MLX	ref
M3 (16 GB)	Q4_K - Medium	—	—	55.0 tok/s	—	LM Studio	ref

Best Macs for Ministral 3 8B

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

MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB 16-inch — 98.0 tok/s Mac Mini M4 16GB — 72.0 tok/s Mac Mini M4 24GB — 72.0 tok/s Mac Mini M4 32GB — 72.0 tok/s MacBook Air M4 16GB 13-inch — 72.0 tok/s MacBook Air M4 24GB 13-inch — 72.0 tok/s

Chips with published results for Ministral 3 8B

M5 Max (64 GB)M4 (16 GB)M3 (16 GB)

Data

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

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