MPT-30B-Instruct needs ~48.2 GB but MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB only has 13.0 GB. Try a smaller quantization or lighter model.
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
35.2 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization
Fit status
Too heavy
Decode
2.3 tok/s
TTFT
83202 ms
Safe context
4K
Memory
48.2 GB / 13.0 GB
Offload
70%
Usable shared or unified memory is the main blocker for this model.
Not enough usable memory
The model needs 48.2 GB, but this setup only exposes 13.0 GB of usable shared or unified memory.
Move to a larger memory pool
A larger unified-memory SKU or a discrete high-bandwidth GPU is the cleanest way to make this model practical.
| Workload | Grade | Fit | Decode | TTFT | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 45383 ms | 4K |
| Coding | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 83202 ms | 4K |
| Agentic Coding | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 121021 ms | 4K |
| Reasoning | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 98329 ms | 4K |
| RAG | F | Too heavy | 2.3 tok/s | 151276 ms | 4K |
How MPT-30B-Instruct (30B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB (13.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 11.7 GB | Low | F0 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 14.7 GB | Low | F0 |
NVFP4 | 4 |
Upgrade options
Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.
Raises estimated decode speed by about 157%.
~$1,099 MSRP
Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.
Raises estimated decode speed by about 522%.
~$1,599 MSRP
Makes the model fit on the accelerator instead of staying completely out of reach.
Removes host-memory offload, which is usually the single biggest latency and throughput win.
~$2,499 MSRP
No, MPT-30B-Instruct requires more memory than MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB provides.
MPT-30B-Instruct (30B parameters) requires approximately 48.2 GB of memory with Q5_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for MPT-30B-Instruct is Q5_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB, MPT-30B-Instruct achieves approximately 2.3 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 83202ms using Q5_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, MPT-30B-Instruct on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB receives a F grade with 2.3 tok/s and 4K context.
On MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB, MPT-30B-Instruct can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, 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/mpt-30b-instruct-on-m3-pro-18gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>
Preview:
| Medium |
| F0 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 18.3 GB | Medium | F0 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 21.6 GB | High | F0 |
Q6_K | 6 | 24.6 GB | High | F0 |
Q8_0 | 8 | 32.1 GB | Very High | F0 |
F16 | 16 | 61.5 GB | Maximum | F0 |
Move to a larger memory pool. A larger unified-memory SKU or a discrete high-bandwidth GPU is the cleanest way to make this model practical.
Not always. MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB 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.
