Intel Arc A770 16GBBudget pick560 GB/s (+410)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 130%.49.9 tok/s decode
Raises estimated decode speed by about 130%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$349 MSRP
Yi 1.5 9B needs ~9.8 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB has 13.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~22 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
21.7 tok/s
TTFT
8926 ms
Safe context
4K
Memory
9.8 GB / 13.0 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 | 21.7 tok/s | 4868 ms | 4K |
| Coding | B | Runs well | 21.7 tok/s | 8926 ms | 4K |
| Agentic Coding | C | Tight fit | 21.7 tok/s | 12983 ms | 4K |
| Reasoning | B | Runs well | 21.7 tok/s | 10548 ms | 4K |
| RAG | C | Tight fit | 21.7 tok/s | 16228 ms | 4K |
How Yi 1.5 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB (13.0 GB usable).
| Quant | Bits | VRAM | Quality | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Q2_K | 2 | 3.5 GB | Low | C54 |
Q3_K_S | 3 | 4.4 GB | Low | C55 |
NVFP4 | 4 | 5.0 GB | Medium | B55 |
Q4_K_M | 4 | 5.5 GB | Medium | B56 |
Q5_K_M | 5 | 6.5 GB | High | B57 |
Q6_K | 6 | 7.4 GB | High | B56 |
Q8_0Best for your GPU | 8 | 9.6 GB | Very High | B56 |
F16 | 16 | 18.5 GB | Maximum | F0 |
Copy-paste commands to run Yi 1.5 9B on your machine.
Run
lms load Yi-1.5-9B-Chat && lms server startUpgrade options
Intel Arc A770 16GBBudget pickRaises estimated decode speed by about 130%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$349 MSRP
RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBest valueRaises estimated decode speed by about 153%.
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.
~$449 MSRP
Yes, MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB can run Yi 1.5 9B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 21.7 tok/s.
Yi 1.5 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 9.8 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.
The recommended quantization for Yi 1.5 9B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.
On MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB, Yi 1.5 9B achieves approximately 21.7 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 8926ms using Q4_K_M quantization.
For coding workloads, Yi 1.5 9B on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB receives a B grade with 21.7 tok/s and 4K context.
On MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB, Yi 1.5 9B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 4K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.
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.
Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.
<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/yi-1.5-9b-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: