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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/hf-second-state--starcoder2-15b-gguf-on-m1-ultra-64gb


Can StarCoder2 15B run on Mac Studio M1 Ultra 64GB?

YES — Runs Great

C48Usable
Estimated from fit model

StarCoder2 15B needs ~18.7 GB VRAM. Mac Studio M1 Ultra 64GB has 46.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~48 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: HighStack: 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) — 18.7 GB, 48.1 tok/s, Runs well
18.7 GB required46.1 GB available
41% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

48.1 tok/s

TTFT

4026 ms

Safe context

265K

Memory

18.7 GB / 46.1 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights9.2 GB
KV Cache1.8 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom6.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsStarCoder2 15B on Mac Studio M1 Ultra 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: 48.1 tok/s decode · 4.0s TTFT (warm) · 120 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 well48.1 tok/s2196 ms265K
CodingCRuns well48.1 tok/s4026 ms265K
Agentic CodingCRuns well48.1 tok/s5856 ms265K
ReasoningCRuns well48.1 tok/s4758 ms265K
RAGCRuns well48.1 tok/s7320 ms265K

Quantization options

How StarCoder2 15B (15B params) fits at each quantization level on Mac Studio M1 Ultra 64GB (46.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
5.9 GB
LowC42
Q3_K_S
3
7.4 GB
LowC42
NVFP4
4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run StarCoder2 15B on your machine.

Run

lms load hf-second-state--starcoder2-15b-gguf && lms server start

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs StarCoder2 15B well

👁 NVIDIA
RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell 48GBBudget pick
1344 GB/s (+544)
C
Raises estimated decode speed by about 157%.123.4 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 157%.

~$4,999 MSRP

👁 NVIDIA
NVIDIA L40 48GBBest value
864 GB/s (+64)
C
Raises estimated decode speed by about 57%.75.3 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 57%.

~$5,500 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

See all results for Mac Studio M1 Ultra 64GBSee all hardware for StarCoder2 15B
8.4 GB
Medium
C43
Q4_K_M
4
9.2 GB
MediumC43
Q5_K_M
5
10.8 GB
HighC43
Q6_K
6
12.3 GB
HighC44
Q8_0
8
16.1 GB
Very HighC45
F16Best for your GPU
16
30.7 GB
MaximumC48

Not always. Mac Studio M1 Ultra 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.