Can Qwen3.5 9B run on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB?

Q: Is unified memory on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB as fast as VRAM for Qwen3.5 9B?

Not always. Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB 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.

YES — Runs Great

C47Usable

Estimated from fit model

Qwen3.5 9B needs ~21.3 GB VRAM. Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB has 92.2 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~85 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced

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) — 21.3 GB, 84.5 tok/s, Runs well

21.3 GB required92.2 GB available

23% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

84.5 tok/s

TTFT

2291 ms

Safe context

1.1M

Memory

21.3 GB / 92.2 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache1.1 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom13.8 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen3.5 9B on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB
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: 84.5 tok/s decode · 2.3s TTFT (warm) · 211 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	84.5 tok/s	1249 ms	1.1M
Coding	C	Runs well	84.5 tok/s	2291 ms	1.1M
Agentic Coding	C	Runs well	84.5 tok/s	3332 ms	1.1M
Reasoning	C	Runs well	84.5 tok/s	2707 ms	1.1M
RAG	C	Runs well	84.5 tok/s	4165 ms	1.1M

Quantization options

How Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB (92.2 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	D40
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	D40
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen3.5 9B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \
  --hf-repo "unsloth/Qwen3.5-9B-GGUF" \
  --hf-file "Qwen3.5-9B-GGUF-Q4_K_M.gguf" \
  -c 4096 -ngl 99

Frequently asked questions

Can Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB run Qwen3.5 9B?

Yes, Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB can run Qwen3.5 9B with a C grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 84.5 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen3.5 9B need?

Qwen3.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 21.3 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen3.5 9B?

The recommended quantization for Qwen3.5 9B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen3.5 9B run at on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB?

On Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB, Qwen3.5 9B achieves approximately 84.5 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 2291ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB run Qwen3.5 9B for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen3.5 9B on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB receives a C grade with 84.5 tok/s and 1.1M context.

What context window can Qwen3.5 9B use on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB?

On Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB, Qwen3.5 9B can safely use up to 1.1M tokens of context. The model's official context limit is —, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB as fast as VRAM for Qwen3.5 9B?

See all results for Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB See all hardware for Qwen3.5 9B

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