Can Granite Code 3B run on MacBook Air M3 24GB?

YES — Runs Great

B65Good

○Estimated from fit model

Granite Code 3B needs ~7.8 GB VRAM. MacBook Air M3 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~37 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth

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) — 7.8 GB, 37.2 tok/s, Runs well

7.8 GB required17.3 GB available

45% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

37.2 tok/s

TTFT

5210 ms

Safe context

Memory

7.8 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights1.8 GB

KV Cache2.5 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGranite Code 3B on MacBook Air M3 24GB
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: 37.2 tok/s decode · 5.2s TTFT (warm) · 93 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	37.2 tok/s	2842 ms	8K
Coding	B	Runs well	37.2 tok/s	5210 ms	8K
Agentic Coding	B	Runs well	37.2 tok/s	7578 ms	8K
Reasoning	B	Runs well	37.2 tok/s	6157 ms	8K
RAG	B	Runs well	37.2 tok/s	9473 ms	8K

Quantization options

How Granite Code 3B (3B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Air M3 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	1.2 GB	Low	B61
Q3_K_S	3	1.5 GB	Low	B62
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Granite Code 3B on your machine.

Run

ollama run granite-code:3b

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Air M3 24GB See all hardware for Granite Code 3B

URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/granite-code-3b-on-m3-air-24gb

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