Can Yi 1.5 34B run on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?

YES — Runs Great

B62Good

Estimated from fit model

Yi 1.5 34B needs ~35.7 GB VRAM. Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB has 69.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~29 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: 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) — 35.7 GB, 29.2 tok/s, Runs well

35.7 GB required69.1 GB available

52% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

29.2 tok/s

TTFT

6641 ms

Safe context

Memory

35.7 GB / 69.1 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights20.7 GB

KV Cache3.7 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom10.4 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsYi 1.5 34B on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 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: 29.2 tok/s decode · 6.6s TTFT (warm) · 73 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	B	Runs well	29.2 tok/s	3622 ms	4K
Coding	B	Runs well	29.2 tok/s	6641 ms	4K
Agentic Coding	B	Runs well	29.2 tok/s	9659 ms	4K
Reasoning	B	Runs well	29.2 tok/s	7848 ms	4K
RAG	B	Runs well	29.2 tok/s	12074 ms	4K

Quantization options

How Yi 1.5 34B (34B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB (69.1 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	13.3 GB	Low	C54
Q3_K_S	3	16.7 GB	Low	C55
NVFP4	4	19.0 GB	Medium	B55
Q4_K_M	4	20.7 GB	Medium	B56
Q5_K_M	5	24.5 GB	High	B57
Q6_K	6	27.9 GB	High	B57
Q8_0Best for your GPU	8	36.4 GB	Very High	B60
F16	16	69.7 GB	Maximum	F0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Yi 1.5 34B on your machine.

Run

lms load Yi-1.5-34B-Chat && lms server start

Opções de upgrade

Hardware que roda bem Yi 1.5 34B

NVIDIA H20 96GBOpção econômica

4000 GB/s (+3181)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 481%.169.6 tok/s decodificação

Raises estimated decode speed by about 481%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$12,000 MSRP

NVIDIA A100 80GBMelhor custo-benefício

2039 GB/s (+1220)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 207%.89.7 tok/s decodificação

Raises estimated decode speed by about 207%.

~$15,000 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB run Yi 1.5 34B?

Yes, Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB can run Yi 1.5 34B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 29.2 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Yi 1.5 34B need?

Yi 1.5 34B (34B parameters) requires approximately 35.7 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Yi 1.5 34B?

The recommended quantization for Yi 1.5 34B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Yi 1.5 34B run at on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?

On Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB, Yi 1.5 34B achieves approximately 29.2 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 6641ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB run Yi 1.5 34B for coding?

For coding workloads, Yi 1.5 34B on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB receives a B grade with 29.2 tok/s and 4K context.

What context window can Yi 1.5 34B use on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?

On Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB, Yi 1.5 34B can safely use up to 4K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 4K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB as fast as VRAM for Yi 1.5 34B?

Not always. Mac Studio M3 Ultra 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 Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB See all hardware for Yi 1.5 34B

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