Can Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct run on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB?

YES — Runs Great

S98Excellent

Estimated from fit model

Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct needs ~26.2 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB has 34.6 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~52 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: MediumStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced

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) — 26.2 GB, 52.0 tok/s, Runs well

26.2 GB required34.6 GB available

76% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

52.0 tok/s

TTFT

3722 ms

Safe context

108K

Memory

26.2 GB / 34.6 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights18.6 GB

KV Cache1.5 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom5.2 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsQwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Write a Python function to sort a list
Here's a Python function that sorts a list using quicksort:

def quicksort(arr):
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

# Example usage
numbers = [3, 6, 8, 10, 1, 2, 1]
print(quicksort(numbers))  # [1, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10]

The algorithm picks a pivot, partitions the list into smaller, equal, and larger elements, then recursively sorts each partition and concatenates the results.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>Now add type hints and a docstring
def quicksort(arr: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    """Sort a list using the quicksort algorithm.

    Args:
        arr: List of integers to sort.

    Returns:
        A new sorted list.
    """
    if len(arr) <= 1:
        return arr
    pivot = arr[len(arr) // 2]
    left   = [x for x in arr if x < pivot]
    middle = [x for x in arr if x == pivot]
    right  = [x for x in arr if x > pivot]
    return quicksort(left) + middle + quicksort(right)

Added type hints for the input and return type, plus a Google-style docstring.
Estimated: 52.0 tok/s decode · 3.7s TTFT (warm) · 130 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	S	Runs well	52.0 tok/s	2030 ms	108K
Coding	S	Runs well	52.0 tok/s	3722 ms	108K
Agentic Coding	S	Runs well	52.0 tok/s	5414 ms	108K
Reasoning	S	Runs well	52.0 tok/s	4399 ms	108K
RAG	S	Runs well	52.0 tok/s	6767 ms	108K

Quantization options

How Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct (30.5B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB (34.6 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	11.9 GB	Low	S90
Q3_K_S	3	14.9 GB	Low	S91
NVFP4	4	17.1 GB	Medium	S92
Q4_K_M	4	18.6 GB	Medium	S92
Q5_K_M	5	22.0 GB	High	S92
Q6_KBest for your GPU	6	25.0 GB	High	S92
Q8_0	8	32.6 GB	Very High	F0
F16	16	62.5 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct on your machine.

Run

ollama run qwen3-coder

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB run Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct?

Yes, MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB can run Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct with a S grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 52.0 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct need?

Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct (30.5B parameters) requires approximately 26.2 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct?

The recommended quantization for Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct run at on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB?

On MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB, Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct achieves approximately 52.0 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 3722ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB run Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct for coding?

For coding workloads, Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB receives a S grade with 52.0 tok/s and 108K context.

What context window can Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct use on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB?

On MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB, Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct can safely use up to 108K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 256K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB as fast as VRAM for Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct?

Not always. MacBook Pro M4 Max 48GB 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 48GB See all hardware for Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct

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