Can Command R+ 104B run on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB?

BARELY — Tight on Memory

C54Usable
Estimated from fit model

Command R+ 104B needs ~78.1 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB has 69.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~9 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: MediumStack: StandardBottleneck: Host offload
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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) 78.1 GB, 8.5 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~7.3 GB host RAM)
78.1 GB required69.1 GB available
113% VRAM needed

9.0 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~7.3 GB host RAM)

Decode

8.5 tok/s

TTFT

22865 ms

Safe context

4K

Memory

78.1 GB / 69.1 GB

Offload

10%

Memory breakdown

Weights63.4 GB
KV Cache3.4 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom10.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsCommand R+ 104B on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step. Given information: - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour) - Time = 2.5 hours Formula: Distance = Speed x Time Calculation: Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h = 150 miles The train travels 150 miles. Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time. Breakdown: - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance) - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles Total distance: 150 miles (same) Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 8.5 tok/s decode · 22.9s TTFT (warm) · 21 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

It fits through host-memory offload, and offload is the main reason performance drops.

CPU or host-memory offload is active

About 10% of the working set spills out of accelerator memory, which usually hurts latency and sustained decode throughput.

Very little memory headroom

You can run the model, but there is not much room left for longer context, bigger batches, extra apps, or future model updates.

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

Remove offload with more accelerator memory

Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Buy headroom, not only minimum fit

A slightly larger memory tier gives you safer context growth and makes the recommendation more future-proof.

Increase host RAM if you keep offloading

This setup may need roughly 7.3 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatCVery compromised (needs ~6.1 GB host RAM)8.7 tok/s12106 ms4K
CodingCVery compromised (needs ~7.3 GB host RAM)8.5 tok/s22865 ms4K
Agentic CodingCVery compromised (needs ~9.7 GB host RAM)8.0 tok/s35155 ms4K
ReasoningCVery compromised (needs ~7.3 GB host RAM)8.5 tok/s27022 ms4K
RAGCVery compromised (needs ~9.7 GB host RAM)8.0 tok/s43944 ms4K

Inference speed

Command R+ 104B inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for Command R+ 104B at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, including multi-GPU rigs, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB at ~10 tok/s. Speed is memory-bandwidth bound, so cards that fit the whole model in VRAM run far faster than ones that offload to system RAM.

GPU / MacMemoryQuantSpeed (tok/s)Fits?
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB
128 GBQ4_K_M10.3Tight
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB
256 GBQ4_K_M9.5Fits
Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB
128 GBQ4_K_M8.0Tight
Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB
128 GBQ4_K_M7.5Tight
2× RX 7900 XTX 24GB
48 GBQ4_K_M6.3Too big
MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB
64 GBQ4_K_M5.5Too big
NVIDIA2× RTX 4090 24GB
48 GBQ4_K_M4.4Too big
NVIDIA2× RTX 3090 24GB
48 GBQ4_K_M3.8Too big
NVIDIA4× RTX 3060 12GB
48 GBQ4_K_M3.3Too big
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB
48 GBQ4_K_M2.9Too big
MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB
64 GBQ4_K_M2.2Too big
NVIDIARTX 5090 32GB
32 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
NVIDIARTX 4090 24GB
24 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
NVIDIARTX 4080 Super 16GB
16 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
NVIDIARTX 3090 24GB
24 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
NVIDIARTX 4070 12GB
12 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
NVIDIARTX 3060 12GB
12 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
NVIDIARTX 4060 8GB
8 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
RX 7900 XTX 24GB
24 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big
MacBook Pro M1 Max 64GB
64 GBQ4_K_M2.0Too big

Estimates for single-stream decoding at Q4_K_M; real tokens/sec varies with prompt length, context, batch size, and runtime build. Prompt processing (prefill) is faster than the decode figures shown here.

Quantization options

How Command R+ 104B (104B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB (69.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
40.6 GB
LowB65
Q3_K_SBest for your GPU
3
51.0 GB
LowB65
NVFP4
4
58.2 GB
MediumF0
Q4_K_M
4
63.4 GB
MediumF0
Q5_K_M
5
74.9 GB
HighF0
Q6_K
6
85.3 GB
HighF0
Q8_0
8
111.3 GB
Very HighF0
F16
16
213.2 GB
MaximumF0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Command R+ 104B on your machine.

Run

ollama run command-r-plus

Upgrade-Optionen

Hardware, die Command R+ 104B gut ausführt

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB run Command R+ 104B?

Yes, MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB can run Command R+ 104B with a C grade (Very compromised (needs ~7.3 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 8.5 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Command R+ 104B need?

Command R+ 104B (104B parameters) requires approximately 78.1 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Command R+ 104B?

The recommended quantization for Command R+ 104B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Command R+ 104B run at on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB?

On MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB, Command R+ 104B achieves approximately 8.5 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 22865ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB run Command R+ 104B for coding?

For coding workloads, Command R+ 104B on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB receives a C grade with 8.5 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Command R+ 104B use on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB?

On MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB, Command R+ 104B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 131K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if Command R+ 104B feels slow on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB?

Remove offload with more accelerator memory. Prioritize a GPU or unified-memory tier that fits the whole model natively. Removing offload usually helps more than small compute gains.

Is unified memory on MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB as fast as VRAM for Command R+ 104B?

Not always. MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GB 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.

See all results for MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GBSee all hardware for Command R+ 104B
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