Is unified memory on MacBook Air M3 24GB as fast as VRAM for Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Not always. MacBook Air M3 24GB 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.

Can Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct run on MacBook Air M3 24GB?

YES — Runs Great

C48Usable

Estimated from fit model

Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct needs ~9.3 GB VRAM. MacBook Air M3 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~14 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

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.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 9.3 GB, 13.9 tok/s, Runs well

9.3 GB required17.3 GB available

54% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

13.9 tok/s

TTFT

13894 ms

Safe context

152K

Memory

9.3 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache0.9 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsMeta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct on MacBook Air M3 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 13.9 tok/s decode · 13.9s TTFT (warm) · 35 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

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.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	C	Runs well	13.9 tok/s	7578 ms	152K
Coding	C	Runs well	13.9 tok/s	13894 ms	152K
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	13.9 tok/s	20209 ms	152K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	13.9 tok/s	16420 ms	152K
RAG	C	Runs well	13.9 tok/s	25261 ms	152K

Quantization options

How Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (8B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Air M3 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	C47
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	C47
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-bartowski--meta-llama-3-1-8b-instruct-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct well

MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GBBudget pick

32 GB Unified (+8)400 GB/s (+300)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 242%.47.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 242%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GBBest value

32 GB Unified (+8)200 GB/s (+100)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 106%.28.7 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 106%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

MacBook Pro M1 Pro 32GBApple upgrade

32 GB Unified (+8)200 GB/s (+100)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 91%.26.6 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 91%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Air M3 24GB run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Yes, MacBook Air M3 24GB can run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 13.9 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct need?

Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct (8B parameters) requires approximately 9.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

The recommended quantization for Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct run at on MacBook Air M3 24GB?

On MacBook Air M3 24GB, Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct achieves approximately 13.9 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 13894ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Air M3 24GB run Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct for coding?

For coding workloads, Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct on MacBook Air M3 24GB receives a C grade with 13.9 tok/s and 152K context.

What context window can Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct use on MacBook Air M3 24GB?

On MacBook Air M3 24GB, Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct can safely use up to 152K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for MacBook Air M3 24GB See all hardware for Meta Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

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