Will It Run AI

Can DeepSeek LLM 67B run on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB?

YES — With Q2_K

C47Usable
Estimated — low-sample bucket· few comparable runs

DeepSeek LLM 67B needs ~38.0 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB has 34.6 GB. With Q2_K quantization, expect ~11 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: OffloadBandwidth: LowStack: StandardBottleneck: Host offload
Share:

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.

DeepSeek LLM 67B at Q4_K_M needs 52.8 GB — too much for MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB (34.6 GB). Runs at Q2_K (38.0 GB) with low quality.
Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) 52.8 GB, exceeds 34.6 GB available
52.8 GB required34.6 GB available
153% VRAM needed

18.2 GB over capacity — needs offload or smaller quantization

Fit status

Too heavy

Decode

5.8 tok/s

TTFT

33540 ms

Safe context

4K

Memory

52.8 GB / 34.6 GB

Offload

30%

Memory breakdown

Weights40.9 GB
KV Cache5.8 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom5.2 GB

See how fast it feels

With memory offload — actual speed may be lower
See how fast it feelsDeepSeek LLM 67B on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB
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: 5.8 tok/s decode · 33.5s TTFT (warm) · 14 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 2.4 GB of extra host RAM just for the offloaded portion, before OS and other tools.

Performance by workload

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatFToo heavy6.2 tok/s17153 ms4K
CodingFToo heavy5.8 tok/s33540 ms4K
Agentic CodingFToo heavy5.1 tok/s54819 ms4K
ReasoningFToo heavy5.8 tok/s39639 ms4K
RAGFToo heavy5.1 tok/s68524 ms4K

Quantization options

How DeepSeek LLM 67B (67B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB (34.6 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
26.1 GB
LowF0
Q3_K_S
3
32.8 GB
LowF0
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

Opções de upgrade

Hardware que roda bem DeepSeek LLM 67B

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB run DeepSeek LLM 67B?

Yes, MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB can run DeepSeek LLM 67B at Q2_K quantization (Very compromised (needs ~2.4 GB host RAM)). The recommended Q4_K_M requires 52.8 GB which exceeds available memory, but at Q2_K it needs only 38.0 GB. Expected decode speed: 11.4 tok/s.

How much VRAM does DeepSeek LLM 67B need?

DeepSeek LLM 67B (67B parameters) requires approximately 52.8 GB at Q4_K_M quantization. On MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB, it fits at Q2_K using 38.0 GB.

What is the best quantization for DeepSeek LLM 67B?

The recommended quantization is Q4_K_M, but on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB the best fitting quantization is Q2_K, which uses 38.0 GB.

What speed will DeepSeek LLM 67B run at on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB?

On MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB, DeepSeek LLM 67B achieves approximately 11.4 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 16951ms using Q2_K quantization.

Can MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB run DeepSeek LLM 67B for coding?

For coding workloads, DeepSeek LLM 67B on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB receives a F grade with 5.8 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can DeepSeek LLM 67B use on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB?

On MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB, DeepSeek LLM 67B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context at Q2_K quantization. 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 MacBook Pro M4 Pro 48GB?

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 Pro 48GB as fast as VRAM for DeepSeek LLM 67B?

Not always. MacBook Pro M4 Pro 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 Pro 48GBSee all hardware for DeepSeek LLM 67B
Embed this result

Paste this snippet into any page to show a live fit card.

<iframe src="https://willitrunai.com/embed/deepseek-llm-67b-on-m4-pro-48gb" width="400" height="180" frameborder="0" style="border:none;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;" title="Will It Run AI — fit result"></iframe>

Preview: