Is unified memory on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB as fast as VRAM for Llama 3.2 11B Vision?

Not always. MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB 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 Llama 3.2 11B Vision run on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB?

YES — Runs Great

B62Good

Estimated from fit model

Llama 3.2 11B Vision needs ~13.8 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB has 25.9 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~18 tok/s.

Runtime: OllamaCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: BasicBottleneck: 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) — 13.8 GB, 17.5 tok/s, Runs well

13.8 GB required25.9 GB available

53% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

17.5 tok/s

TTFT

11036 ms

Safe context

16K

Memory

13.8 GB / 25.9 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights6.7 GB

KV Cache2.0 GB

Runtime1.2 GB

Headroom3.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsLlama 3.2 11B Vision on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB
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: 17.5 tok/s decode · 11.0s TTFT (warm) · 44 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	B	Runs well	17.5 tok/s	6020 ms	16K
Coding	B	Runs well	17.5 tok/s	11036 ms	16K
Agentic Coding	B	Runs well	17.5 tok/s	16052 ms	16K
Reasoning	B	Runs well	17.5 tok/s	13042 ms	16K
RAG	B	Runs well	17.5 tok/s	20065 ms	16K

Quantization options

How Llama 3.2 11B Vision (11B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB (25.9 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	4.3 GB	Low	B59
Q3_K_S	3	5.4 GB	Low	B60
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Llama 3.2 11B Vision on your machine.

Run

ollama run llama3.2-vision:11b

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Llama 3.2 11B Vision well

MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GBBudget pick

48 GB Unified (+12)546 GB/s (+396)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 177%.48.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 177%.

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

~$2,499 MSRP

MacBook Pro M3 Max 48GBBest value

48 GB Unified (+12)400 GB/s (+250)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 120%.38.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 120%.

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

~$2,499 MSRP

Mac Studio M2 Ultra 64GBApple upgrade

64 GB Unified (+28)800 GB/s (+650)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 325%.74.3 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 325%.

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

~$3,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB run Llama 3.2 11B Vision?

Yes, MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB can run Llama 3.2 11B Vision with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 17.5 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Llama 3.2 11B Vision need?

Llama 3.2 11B Vision (11B parameters) requires approximately 13.8 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Llama 3.2 11B Vision?

The recommended quantization for Llama 3.2 11B Vision is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Llama 3.2 11B Vision run at on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB?

On MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB, Llama 3.2 11B Vision achieves approximately 17.5 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 11036ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB run Llama 3.2 11B Vision for coding?

For coding workloads, Llama 3.2 11B Vision on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB receives a B grade with 17.5 tok/s and 16K context.

What context window can Llama 3.2 11B Vision use on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB?

On MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB, Llama 3.2 11B Vision can safely use up to 16K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 16K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

See all results for MacBook Pro M3 Pro 36GB See all hardware for Llama 3.2 11B Vision

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