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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/granite-3.1-8b-on-m3-pro-18gb


Can Granite 3.1 8B run on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB?

YES — Runs Great

B57Good
Estimated from fit model

Granite 3.1 8B needs ~9.7 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB has 13.0 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~26 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth
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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) — 9.7 GB, 27.7 tok/s, Runs well
9.7 GB required13.0 GB available
75% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

27.7 tok/s

TTFT

6979 ms

Safe context

43K

Memory

9.7 GB / 13.0 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights4.9 GB
KV Cache2.0 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom1.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGranite 3.1 8B on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB
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: 27.7 tok/s decode · 7.0s TTFT (warm) · 69 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
ChatBRuns well27.7 tok/s3807 ms43K
CodingBRuns well25.8 tok/s7503 ms43K
Agentic CodingCTight fit27.7 tok/s10152 ms43K
ReasoningBRuns well27.7 tok/s8248 ms43K
RAGCTight fit27.7 tok/s12689 ms43K

Quantization options

How Granite 3.1 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB (13.0 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
3.1 GB
LowC53
Q3_K_S
3
3.9 GB
LowC54
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

👁 Intel
Intel Arc A770 16GBBudget pick
560 GB/s (+410)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 130%.63.8 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 130%.

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

~$349 MSRP

👁 NVIDIA
RTX 5060 Ti 16GBBest value
448 GB/s (+298)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 154%.70.4 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 154%.

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

~$449 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GBSee all hardware for Granite 3.1 8B
4.5 GB
Medium
B55
Q4_K_M
4
4.9 GB
MediumB56
Q5_K_M
5
5.8 GB
HighB57
Q6_K
6
6.6 GB
HighB57
Q8_0Best for your GPU
8
8.6 GB
Very HighB56
F16
16
16.4 GB
MaximumF0

Not always. MacBook Pro M3 Pro 18GB 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.