Will It Run AI

Apple Silicon · 256 GB unified memory · April 2026

Best Local LLMs for Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB (April 2026)

350 models ranked for Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB. Top picks for coding, chat, and writing with exact fit, recommended quantization, and estimated tokens per second. Updated April 2026.

Full hardware spec sheet →Check your own model

Top 10 local LLMs for Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB

1
DeepSeek V4 Flash284B
NVFP4187.2 GB17.9 tok/sNeeds offloadFull fit report →
SExcellent
2
Qwen 3.5 122B A10B122B
Q4_K_M104.2 GB34.7 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
3
Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct30.5B
Q4_K_M47.9 GB84.2 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
4
Mistral Small 4 119B119B
Q4_K_M103.8 GB37.6 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
5
Qwen3-VL 30B A3B Instruct30B
Q4_K_M47.6 GB87.1 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
6
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B35B
Q4_K_M51.9 GB70.8 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
7
Qwen 3.5 35B A3B35B
Q4_K_M50.6 GB77.0 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
8
Qwen 3.5 9B9B
Q4_K_M35.1 GB109.1 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
9
Devstral 2 123B Instruct123B
Q4_K_M106.3 GB8.1 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent
10
Qwen 3 30B A3B30.5B
Q4_K_M47.9 GB84.2 tok/sRuns greatFull fit report →
SExcellent

Best picks by workload

Best for coding

  1. 1. DeepSeek V4 FlashNVFP4 · 187.9 GB
  2. 2. Qwen 3.5 122B A10BQ4_K_M · 105.4 GB
  3. 3. Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B InstructQ4_K_M · 48.6 GB

Best for chat & general use

  1. 1. DeepSeek V4 FlashNVFP4 · 187.2 GB
  2. 2. Qwen 3.5 122B A10BQ4_K_M · 104.2 GB
  3. 3. Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B InstructQ4_K_M · 47.9 GB

Best for writing

  1. 1. DeepSeek V4 FlashNVFP4 · 187.2 GB
  2. 2. Qwen 3.5 122B A10BQ4_K_M · 104.2 GB
  3. 3. Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B InstructQ4_K_M · 47.9 GB

Frequently asked questions

What is the best local LLM for Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB?

DeepSeek V4 Flash ranks highest overall for Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB: ~187.2 GB at NVFP4 with ~18 tok/s. Best for coding: DeepSeek V4 Flash. Best for writing: DeepSeek V4 Flash.

How many models can I run on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB (256 GB)?

350 models in our catalog fit on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB at the recommended quantization for each.

Is 256 GB enough for local LLMs in 2026?

Yes, 256 GB unified memory comfortably runs 27B-class models at Q6 and 35B-A3B MoE at Q4-Q5. You have meaningful headroom for long context and agentic workloads.

What is the best local LLM for coding on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB?

DeepSeek V4 Flash — runs at NVFP4 (~187.9 GB, ~18 tok/s). Qwen 3 Coder variants specifically dominate coding benchmarks at this hardware tier.

Related

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 256GB full spec sheetMacBook Air vs Pro for LLMsBest coding LLMs (Apple Silicon 24GB)VRAM calculator