# Best Mac for running local LLMs (2026) | What Can I Run AI? > Which Mac to buy for local LLMs: every Mac mini, MacBook Pro and Mac Studio ranked by usable memory, with prices and estimated tok/s for Qwen, Llama and gpt-oss. Source: https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/best-mac-for-local-llm/ # Best Mac for running local LLMs Every Mac we track, ranked by how much memory a model can actually use, with estimated speed for six popular open models at Q4\_K\_M. Unified memory lets a Mac hold models no single consumer GPU can. Macs tracked 10 Usable memory range 12–384 GB Biggest at Q4 Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct Start with the model you want. For 27–32B models, the cheapest current Mac that fits is the **Mac mini M6 32GB** ($1,799). For 70B models and gpt-oss-120b, the cheapest current Mac that fits is the **MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB** ($6,699). ## Top picks Cheapest way in ### [Mac mini M6 16GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-16/) Usable memory 12 GB Bandwidth 153 GB/s Run at Q4 350 / 656 Runs 7–8B chat models at Q4\. Biggest at Q4: [OLMo-2-1124-13B-Instruct](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/olmo-2-1124-13b-instruct/). **$899** Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 16GB/256GB (MHQK4LL/A), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m6-chip-12-core-cpu-12-core-gpu-16gb-memory-256gb-storage), 2026-11-12 [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mac%20mini%20M6%2016GB&tag=whatcanirunai-20)[eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?%5Fnkw=Mac%20mini%20M6%2016GB) Best for 27–32B models ### [Mac mini M6 32GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-32/) Usable memory 24 GB Bandwidth 170 GB/s Run at Q4 423 / 656 The cheapest current Mac that fits Qwen3.8-27B at Q4\. Biggest at Q4: [ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B-PT](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/ernie-4.5-vl-28b-a3b-pt/). **$1799** Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 32GB/1TB (MHQV4LL/A), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m6-chip-12-core-cpu-12-core-gpu-32gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mac%20mini%20M6%2032GB&tag=whatcanirunai-20)[eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?%5Fnkw=Mac%20mini%20M6%2032GB) Best for 70B models and gpt-oss-120b ### [MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m5-max-128/) Usable memory 96 GB Bandwidth 614 GB/s Run at Q4 545 / 656 The cheapest current Mac that fits Llama 3.3 70B and gpt-oss-120b at Q4\. Biggest at Q4: [Mistral-Small-4-119B-2603](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/mistral-small-4-119b-2603/). **$6699** Apple list price, 14-inch M5 Max 18C CPU/40C GPU, 128GB/2TB, [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/14-inch-space-black-standard-display-apple-m5-max-chip-18-core-cpu-40-core-gpu-128gb-memory-2tb-storage), 2026-11-12 [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=MacBook%20Pro%20M5%20Max%20128GB&tag=whatcanirunai-20)[eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?%5Fnkw=MacBook%20Pro%20M5%20Max%20128GB) Most memory ### [Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-studio-m5-ultra-512/) Usable memory 384 GB Bandwidth 1200 GB/s Run at Q4 610 / 656 The most usable memory and bandwidth of any Mac we track. Biggest at Q4: [Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct/). **$22299** Apple list price, M5 Ultra 36C CPU/80C GPU, 512GB/1TB, [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-studio/m5-ultra-chip-36-core-cpu-80-core-gpu-512gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Mac%20Studio%20M5%20Ultra%20512GB&tag=whatcanirunai-20)[eBay](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?%5Fnkw=Mac%20Studio%20M5%20Ultra%20512GB) We may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you. ## Every Mac, by usable memory Usable memory is about 75% of unified memory ([how we calculate](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/method/)). Prices are dated snapshots; each row links its source. __Macs ranked by usable memory__ | Mac | Price | Usable memory | Bandwidth | $ per usable GB | Biggest model at Q4 | Models that fit | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | --------- | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | | [Mac mini M4 16GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m4-16/)16 GB unified · discontinued | $789B&H sale, 16GB/256GB MU9D3LL/A (was $899 Apple list; discontinued at Apple, replaced by M6; was $799 on 2026-10-29), [source](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1859258-REG/apple%5Fmu9d3ll%5Fa%5Fmac%5Fmini%5Fm4%5F10c%5F10cgpu%5F16gb%5F256gb.html), 2026-11-05 | 12 GB | 120 GB/s | $66 | [OLMo-2-1124-13B-Instruct](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/olmo-2-1124-13b-instruct/)\~10.6 GB at Q4 | 350 / 656 | | [Mac mini M6 16GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-16/)16 GB unified | $899Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 16GB/256GB (MHQK4LL/A), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m6-chip-12-core-cpu-12-core-gpu-16gb-memory-256gb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 12 GB | 153 GB/s | $75 | [OLMo-2-1124-13B-Instruct](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/olmo-2-1124-13b-instruct/)\~10.6 GB at Q4 | 350 / 656 | | [Mac mini M6 24GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-24/)24 GB unified | $1,299Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 24GB/512GB (MHQM4LL/A), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m6-chip-12-core-cpu-12-core-gpu-24gb-memory-512gb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 18 GB | 170 GB/s | $72 | [gpt-oss-20b](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/gpt-oss-20b/)\~15.6 GB at Q4 | 393 / 656 | | [Mac mini M6 32GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-32/)32 GB unified | $1,799Apple list price, M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 32GB/1TB (MHQV4LL/A), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m6-chip-12-core-cpu-12-core-gpu-32gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 24 GB | 170 GB/s | $75 | [ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B-PT](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/ernie-4.5-vl-28b-a3b-pt/)\~21.5 GB at Q4 | 423 / 656 | | [MacBook Pro M6 32GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m6-32/)32 GB unified | $2,399Apple list price, 14-inch M6 12C CPU/12C GPU, 32GB/1TB (MHWV4LL/A; available starting Nov 6, 2026), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/14-inch-space-black-standard-display-apple-m6-chip-12-core-cpu-12-core-gpu-32gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 24 GB | 170 GB/s | $100 | [ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B-PT](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/ernie-4.5-vl-28b-a3b-pt/)\~21.5 GB at Q4 | 423 / 656 | | [Mac mini M5 Pro 64GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m5-pro-64/)64 GB unified | $3,199Apple list price, M5 Pro 18C CPU/20C GPU, 64GB/1TB (MHQU4LL/A), [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini/m5-pro-chip-18-core-cpu-20-core-gpu-64gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 48 GB | 307 GB/s | $67 | [AI21-Jamba2-Mini](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/ai21-jamba2-mini/)\~37.0 GB at Q4 | 511 / 656 | | [MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m4-max-128/)128 GB unified · discontinued | $4,999reseller listing, 16-inch 128GB/1TB (AppleInsider price guide; sold out at listed reseller), [source](https://prices.appleinsider.com/group/7714), 2026-11-05 | 96 GB | 546 GB/s | $52 | [Mistral-Small-4-119B-2603](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/mistral-small-4-119b-2603/)\~84.2 GB at Q4 | 545 / 656 | | [MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m5-max-128/)128 GB unified | $6,699Apple list price, 14-inch M5 Max 18C CPU/40C GPU, 128GB/2TB, [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/14-inch-space-black-standard-display-apple-m5-max-chip-18-core-cpu-40-core-gpu-128gb-memory-2tb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 96 GB | 614 GB/s | $70 | [Mistral-Small-4-119B-2603](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/mistral-small-4-119b-2603/)\~84.2 GB at Q4 | 545 / 656 | | [Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-studio-m5-ultra-256/)256 GB unified | $9,499Apple list price, M5 Ultra 30C CPU/64C GPU, 256GB/1TB, [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-studio/m5-ultra-chip-30-core-cpu-64-core-gpu-256gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 192 GB | 1200 GB/s | $49 | [Intern-S1](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/intern-s1/)\~168.8 GB at Q4 | 574 / 656 | | [Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-studio-m5-ultra-512/)512 GB unified | $22,299Apple list price, M5 Ultra 36C CPU/80C GPU, 512GB/1TB, [source](https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-studio/m5-ultra-chip-36-core-cpu-80-core-gpu-512gb-memory-1tb-storage), 2026-11-12 | 384 GB | 1200 GB/s | $58 | [Qwen3-Coder-480B-A35B-Instruct](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct/)\~335.8 GB at Q4 | 610 / 656 | ## Which popular models run, and how fast Estimated decode speed at Q4 in tokens per second ([how we estimate speed](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/method/#speed)). MoE models show an upper bound only. "Tight" means it fits with short context only. __Estimated fit and decode speed at Q4 for popular models on each Mac__ | Mac | [Qwen3-8B](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/qwen3-8b/)\~6.7 GB | [gpt-oss-20b](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/gpt-oss-20b/)\~15.6 GB | [Qwen3.8-27B](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/qwen3.8-27b/)\~20.4 GB | [Qwen3-30B-A3B](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/qwen3-30b-a3b/)\~22.3 GB | [Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/llama-3.3-70b-instruct/)\~50.2 GB | [gpt-oss-120b](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/models/gpt-oss-120b/)\~82.5 GB | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------- | | [Mac mini M4 16GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m4-16/)12 GB usable | Fits11–19 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | | [Mac mini M6 16GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-16/)12 GB usable | Fits14–25 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | | [Mac mini M6 24GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-24/)18 GB usable | Fits15–27 tok/s | Fitsup to 62 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | | [Mac mini M6 32GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m6-32/)24 GB usable | Fits15–27 tok/s | Fitsup to 62 tok/s | Fits5–8 tok/s | Tightup to 75 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | | [MacBook Pro M6 32GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m6-32/)24 GB usable | Fits15–27 tok/s | Fitsup to 62 tok/s | Fits5–8 tok/s | Tightup to 75 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | | [Mac mini M5 Pro 64GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-mini-m5-pro-64/)48 GB usable | Fits28–49 tok/s | Fitsup to 113 tok/s | Fits8–15 tok/s | Fitsup to 135 tok/s | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | | [MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m4-max-128/)96 GB usable | Fits49–88 tok/s | Fitsup to 200 tok/s | Fits15–26 tok/s | Fitsup to 240 tok/s | Fits6–10 tok/s | Fitsup to 141 tok/s | | [MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/macbook-pro-m5-max-128/)96 GB usable | Fits56–99 tok/s | Fitsup to 225 tok/s | Fits16–29 tok/s | Fitsup to 270 tok/s | Fits6–11 tok/s | Fitsup to 159 tok/s | | [Mac Studio M5 Ultra 256GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-studio-m5-ultra-256/)192 GB usable | Fits109–193 tok/s | Fitsup to 440 tok/s | Fits32–57 tok/s | Fitsup to 528 tok/s | Fits13–22 tok/s | Fitsup to 310 tok/s | | [Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/mac-studio-m5-ultra-512/)384 GB usable | Fits109–193 tok/s | Fitsup to 440 tok/s | Fits32–57 tok/s | Fitsup to 528 tok/s | Fits13–22 tok/s | Fitsup to 310 tok/s | ## Not a Mac, but similar Unified-memory mini PCs with up to 128 GB: [Framework Desktop (Ryzen AI Max+ 395) 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/framework-desktop-128/) (96 GB usable, 256 GB/s, $3,449), [NVIDIA DGX Spark 64GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/dgx-spark-64/) (48 GB usable, 273 GB/s, $4,999), [NVIDIA DGX Spark 128GB](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/hardware/dgx-spark-128/) (96 GB usable, 273 GB/s, $6,950). See [Mac mini M5 Pro vs Framework Desktop](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/compare/mac-mini-m5-pro-64-vs-framework-desktop-128/) and [DGX Spark vs Mac Studio](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/compare/dgx-spark-128-vs-mac-studio-m5-ultra-256/), or the [best mini PC for local LLMs](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/best-mini-pc-for-local-llm/). Have a different Mac? Enter its memory in the [VRAM calculator](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/vram-calculator/?type=unified) and choose unified memory. Planning a PC instead? Try the [planner](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/planner/). ## Quick answers What is the best Mac for running local LLMs? It depends on the model size. For 27–32B models: the Mac mini M6 32GB (24 GB usable, $1,799). For 70B models and gpt-oss-120b: the MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB (96 GB usable, $6,699). Most memory: the Mac Studio M5 Ultra 512GB (384 GB usable, $22,299). Memory decides what fits; memory bandwidth decides speed. How much of a Mac's memory can an LLM use? We count about 75% of unified memory as usable for model weights, since macOS and other apps need the rest by default. A 32 GB Mac gives about 24 GB, a 128 GB Mac about 96 GB. What is the cheapest Mac for local AI? The Mac mini M6 16GB at $899 (2026-11-12). It has about 12 GB usable and runs 350 of our 656 tracked models at Q4. Can a Mac run a 70B model? Yes. Llama 3.3 70B needs about 50.2 GB at Q4\. That is more than the 48 GB usable on a 64 GB Mac, so among the Macs we track it takes a 128 GB one. The cheapest current one we track is the MacBook Pro M5 Max 128GB at $6,699. Mac or GPU for local LLMs? A Mac can offer far more memory in one quiet box than any single consumer GPU, so it fits bigger models. A desktop GPU has more bandwidth per GB, so models that fit run faster. See our GPU vs GPU and build comparison pages to weigh specific pairs. How fast are these speed estimates? They are rough decode-speed ranges: memory bandwidth divided by the model's Q4 weight size, times an efficiency band calibrated on public llama.cpp Apple Silicon results. MoE models show an upper bound only. Real speed depends on the app, context length and settings. [Buying guides](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/best-gpu-for/) · [Best GPU by budget](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/best-gpu-under/) · [NVIDIA vs AMD vs Mac](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/nvidia-vs-amd-vs-mac/) · [Tokens per second](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/tokens-per-second/) · [GPU vs GPU](https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/compare/) --- Agent guide: https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/llms.txt · JSON API: https://whatcanirunai.vercel.app/developers/