MacBook Pro M4 Max 36GBBudget pick
36 GB Unified (+4)410 GB/s (+210)
A
Raises estimated decode speed by about 101%.62 tok/s decode
Raises estimated decode speed by about 101%.
~$2,499 MSRP
Llama 3.1 8B needs ~11.2 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB has 23.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~31 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
Runs well
Decode
30.8 tok/s
TTFT
6278 ms
Safe context
113K
Memory
11.2 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 | B | Runs well | 28.7 tok/s | 3681 ms | 113K |
| Coding | B | Runs well | 30.8 tok/s | 6278 ms | 113K |
| Agentic Coding | A | Runs well | 30.8 tok/s | 9131 ms | 113K |
| Reasoning | B | Runs well | 30.8 tok/s | 7419 ms | 113K |
| RAG | A | Runs well | 30.8 tok/s | 11414 ms | 113K |
How Llama 3.1 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB (23.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 3.1 GB | Low | B66 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 3.9 GB | Low | B66 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Copy-paste commands to run Llama 3.1 8B on your machine.
Run
ollama run llama3.1Upgrade options
Raises estimated decode speed by about 101%.
~$2,499 MSRP
Raises estimated decode speed by about 168%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$2,499 MSRP
Yes, MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB can run Llama 3.1 8B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 30.8 tok/s.
Llama 3.1 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 11.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for Llama 3.1 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB, Llama 3.1 8B achieves approximately 30.8 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 6278ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, Llama 3.1 8B on MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB receives a B grade with 30.8 tok/s and 113K context.
On MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GB, Llama 3.1 8B can safely use up to 113K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 128K, 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/llama-3.1-8b-on-m2-pro-32gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
4.5 GB |
| Medium |
| B66 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 4.9 GB | Medium | B67 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 5.8 GB | High | B67 |
Q6_K | 6 | 6.6 GB | High | B68 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 8.6 GB | Very High | B69 |
F16Best for your GPU | 16 | 16.4 GB | Maximum | A71 |
Not always. MacBook Pro M2 Pro 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.