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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/granite-3.1-8b-on-m1-max-32gb


Can Granite 3.1 8B run on MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB?

YES — Runs Great

B55Good
Estimated from fit model

Granite 3.1 8B needs ~11.2 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB has 23.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~56 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: LowStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced
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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) — 11.2 GB, 55.7 tok/s, Runs well
11.2 GB required23.0 GB available
49% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

55.7 tok/s

TTFT

3474 ms

Safe context

113K

Memory

11.2 GB / 23.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB
KV Cache2.0 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom3.5 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGranite 3.1 8B on MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB
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: 55.7 tok/s decode · 3.5s TTFT (warm) · 139 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

WorkloadGradeFitDecodeTTFTContext
ChatCRuns well51.8 tok/s2037 ms113K
CodingBRuns well55.7 tok/s3474 ms113K
Agentic CodingBRuns well55.7 tok/s5053 ms113K
ReasoningBRuns well55.7 tok/s4105 ms113K
RAGBRuns well55.7 tok/s6316 ms113K

Quantization options

How Granite 3.1 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB (23.0 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
3.1 GB
LowC49
Q3_K_S
3
3.9 GB
LowC50
NVFP4
4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Granite 3.1 8B on your machine.

Run

ollama run granite3.1-dense

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Granite 3.1 8B well

RX 7900 XTX 24GBBudget pick
960 GB/s (+560)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 101%.112 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 101%.

~$999 MSRP

👁 NVIDIA
RTX 3090 24GBBest value
936 GB/s (+536)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 72%.96 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 72%.

~$1,499 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GBSee all hardware for Granite 3.1 8B
4.5 GB
Medium
C50
Q4_K_M
4
4.9 GB
MediumC50
Q5_K_M
5
5.8 GB
HighC51
Q6_K
6
6.6 GB
HighC51
Q8_0
8
8.6 GB
Very HighC53
F16Best for your GPU
16
16.4 GB
MaximumC54

Not always. MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB 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.