Can DeepSeek LLM 67B run on Mac mini M4 64GB?

BARELY — Tight on Memory

D37Poor
Estimated — low-sample bucket· few comparable runs

DeepSeek LLM 67B needs ~54.5 GB VRAM. Mac mini M4 64GB has 46.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~3 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: Very lowStack: 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) 54.5 GB, 3.2 tok/s, Very compromised (needs ~6.3 GB host RAM)
54.5 GB required46.1 GB available
118% VRAM needed

8.4 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Very compromised (needs ~6.3 GB host RAM)

Decode

3.2 tok/s

TTFT

60296 ms

Safe context

4K

Memory

54.5 GB / 46.1 GB

Offload

20%

Memory breakdown

Weights40.9 GB
KV Cache5.8 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom6.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsDeepSeek LLM 67B on Mac mini M4 64GB
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: 3.2 tok/s decode · 60.3s TTFT (warm) · 8 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 20% 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 6.3 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatCVery compromised (needs ~4.4 GB host RAM)3.4 tok/s30629 ms4K
CodingDVery compromised (needs ~6.3 GB host RAM)3.2 tok/s60296 ms4K
Agentic CodingFToo heavy2.8 tok/s99274 ms4K
ReasoningDVery compromised (needs ~6.3 GB host RAM)3.2 tok/s71259 ms4K
RAGFToo heavy2.8 tok/s124093 ms4K

Inference speed

DeepSeek LLM 67B inference speed — tokens per second by GPU & Mac

Estimated decode speed (tokens/sec) for DeepSeek LLM 67B at Q4_K_M across popular GPUs and Apple Silicon, including multi-GPU rigs, using the fastest local runtime per device. Fastest is 2× RX 7900 XTX 24GB at ~20 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?
2× RX 7900 XTX 24GB
48 GBQ4_K_M19.5Heavy offload
MacBook Pro M4 Max 128GB
128 GBQ4_K_M16.0Fits
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB
256 GBQ4_K_M14.8Fits
MacBook Pro M4 Max 64GB
64 GBQ4_K_M12.4Heavy offload
Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GB
128 GBQ4_K_M12.3Fits
Mac Studio M1 Ultra 128GB
128 GBQ4_K_M11.7Fits
NVIDIA2× RTX 4090 24GB
48 GBQ4_K_M10.3Heavy offload
NVIDIA2× RTX 3090 24GB
48 GBQ4_K_M9.4Heavy offload
NVIDIA4× RTX 3060 12GB
48 GBQ4_K_M8.3Heavy offload
NVIDIARTX 5090 32GB
32 GBQ4_K_M6.2Too big
MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB
48 GBQ4_K_M5.8Too big
MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB
64 GBQ4_K_M5.0Heavy offload
MacBook Pro M1 Max 64GB
64 GBQ4_K_M4.5Heavy offload
RX 7900 XTX 24GB
24 GBQ4_K_M2.9Too 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

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 DeepSeek LLM 67B (67B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac mini M4 64GB (46.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
26.1 GB
LowB58
Q3_K_SBest for your GPU
3
32.8 GB
LowB58
NVFP4
4
37.5 GB
MediumF0
Q4_K_M
4
40.9 GB
MediumF0
Q5_K_M
5
48.2 GB
HighF0
Q6_K
6
54.9 GB
HighF0
Q8_0
8
71.7 GB
Very HighF0
F16
16
137.4 GB
MaximumF0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run DeepSeek LLM 67B on your machine.

Run

docker run --rm -it ghcr.io/ggerganov/llama.cpp:full \ --hf-repo "deepseek-ai/deepseek-llm-67b-chat" \ --hf-file "deepseek-llm-67b-chat-Q4_K_M.gguf" \ -c 4096 -ngl 99

アップグレードオプション

DeepSeek LLM 67Bを快適に動かすハードウェア

Frequently asked questions

Can Mac mini M4 64GB run DeepSeek LLM 67B?

Yes, Mac mini M4 64GB can run DeepSeek LLM 67B with a D grade (Very compromised (needs ~6.3 GB host RAM)). Expected decode speed: 3.2 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek LLM 67B need?

DeepSeek LLM 67B (67B parameters) requires approximately 54.5 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek LLM 67B?

The recommended quantization for DeepSeek LLM 67B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will DeepSeek LLM 67B run at on Mac mini M4 64GB?

On Mac mini M4 64GB, DeepSeek LLM 67B achieves approximately 3.2 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 60296ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Mac mini M4 64GB run DeepSeek LLM 67B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek LLM 67B on Mac mini M4 64GB receives a D grade with 3.2 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can DeepSeek LLM 67B use on Mac mini M4 64GB?

On Mac mini M4 64GB, DeepSeek LLM 67B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 4K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

What should I upgrade first if DeepSeek LLM 67B feels slow on Mac mini M4 64GB?

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 Mac mini M4 64GB as fast as VRAM for DeepSeek LLM 67B?

Not always. Mac mini M4 64GB 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 Mac mini M4 64GBSee all hardware for DeepSeek LLM 67B
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