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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/hf-maziyarpanahi--yi-coder-9b-chat-gguf-on-m3-max-64gb


Can Yi Coder 9B Chat run on MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB?

YES — Runs Great

C46Usable
Estimated from fit model

Yi Coder 9B Chat needs ~14.4 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB has 46.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~44 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) — 14.4 GB, 43.7 tok/s, Runs well
14.4 GB required46.1 GB available
31% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

43.7 tok/s

TTFT

4429 ms

Safe context

497K

Memory

14.4 GB / 46.1 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights5.5 GB
KV Cache1.1 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom6.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsYi Coder 9B Chat on MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB
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: 43.7 tok/s decode · 4.4s TTFT (warm) · 109 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 well43.7 tok/s2416 ms497K
CodingCRuns well43.7 tok/s4429 ms497K
Agentic CodingCRuns well43.7 tok/s6442 ms497K
ReasoningCRuns well43.7 tok/s5234 ms497K
RAGCRuns well43.7 tok/s8052 ms497K

Quantization options

How Yi Coder 9B Chat (9B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB (46.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
3.5 GB
LowC42
Q3_K_S
3
4.4 GB
LowC42
NVFP4
4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Yi Coder 9B Chat on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-maziyarpanahi--yi-coder-9b-chat-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Yi Coder 9B Chat well

MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GBBudget pick
96 GB Unified (+32)546 GB/s (+146)
C
Raises estimated decode speed by about 56%.68.3 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 56%.

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

~$2,499 MSRP

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GBBest value
96 GB Unified (+32)819 GB/s (+419)
C
Raises estimated decode speed by about 132%.101.4 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 132%.

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

~$3,999 MSRP

Mac Studio M2 Ultra 128GBApple upgrade
128 GB Unified (+64)800 GB/s (+400)
C
Raises estimated decode speed by about 93%.84.5 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 93%.

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

~$3,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GBSee all hardware for Yi Coder 9B Chat
5.0 GB
Medium
C42
Q4_K_M
4
5.5 GB
MediumC42
Q5_K_M
5
6.5 GB
HighC42
Q6_K
6
7.4 GB
HighC42
Q8_0
8
9.6 GB
Very HighC43
F16Best for your GPU
16
18.5 GB
MaximumC46

Not always. MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB 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.