MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GBBudget pick
36 GB Unified (+4)
C
This setup is broadly balanced for this model.9 tok/s decode
~$1,999 MSRP
internlm2 5 20b chat needs ~18.9 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB has 23.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~19 tok/s.
Operating mode
Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.
Current mode
Balanced
Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.
Select quantization to explore
Fit status
Tight fit
Decode
19.0 tok/s
TTFT
10181 ms
Safe context
44K
Memory
18.9 GB / 23.0 GB
This setup is broadly balanced for this model.
Shared-memory contention still exists
The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | C | Runs well | 19.0 tok/s | 5553 ms | 44K |
| Coding | C | Tight fit | 19.0 tok/s | 10181 ms | 44K |
| Agentic Coding | C | Tight fit | 19.0 tok/s | 14808 ms | 44K |
| Reasoning | C | Tight fit | 19.0 tok/s | 12032 ms | 44K |
| RAG | C | Tight fit | 19.0 tok/s | 18510 ms | 44K |
How internlm2 5 20b chat (20B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB (23.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 7.8 GB | Low | C47 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 9.8 GB | Low | C49 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Copy-paste commands to run internlm2 5 20b chat on your machine.
Run
lms load hf-bartowski--internlm2-5-20b-chat-gguf && lms server startUpgrade options
~$1,999 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 49%.
~$2,499 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 87%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$2,499 MSRP
Yes, MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB can run internlm2 5 20b chat with a C grade (Tight fit). Expected decode speed: 19.0 tok/s.
internlm2 5 20b chat (20B parameters) requires approximately 18.9 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for internlm2 5 20b chat is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB, internlm2 5 20b chat achieves approximately 19.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 10181ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, internlm2 5 20b chat on MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB receives a C grade with 19.0 tok/s and 44K context.
On MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB, internlm2 5 20b chat can safely use up to 44K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.
Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.
<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/hf-bartowski--internlm2-5-20b-chat-gguf-on-m2-max-32gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
11.2 GB |
| Medium |
| C50 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 12.2 GB | Medium | C50 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 14.4 GB | High | C50 |
Q6_KBest for your GPU | 6 | 16.4 GB | High | C49 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 21.4 GB | Very High | F0 |
F16 | 16 | 41.0 GB | Maximum | F0 |
Not always. MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GB can often fit larger models thanks to unified memory, but a discrete GPU with dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM may still decode faster once the model fits. For this combination, the important distinction is capacity versus sustained throughput.