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⇱ Mixtral 8x7B on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 64GB? TIGHT FIT


Can Mixtral 8x7B run on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 64GB?

YES — Tight Fit

B64Good
Estimated from fit model

Mixtral 8x7B needs ~38.4 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M4 Pro 64GB has 46.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~15 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: TightBandwidth: 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) — 38.4 GB, 15.1 tok/s, Tight fit
38.4 GB required46.1 GB available
83% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

15.1 tok/s

TTFT

12804 ms

Safe context

33K

Memory

38.4 GB / 46.1 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights28.7 GB
KV Cache2.0 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom6.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsMixtral 8x7B on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 64GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>Solve: If a train travels at 60 mph for 2.5 hours, how far does it go?
Let me work through this step by step. Given information: - Speed = 60 mph (miles per hour) - Time = 2.5 hours Formula: Distance = Speed x Time Calculation: Distance = 60 mph x 2.5 h = 150 miles The train travels 150 miles. Double-check: at 60 mph the train covers 60 miles each hour. In half an hour it covers 30 miles. So in 2.5 hours: 60 + 60 + 30 = 150 miles. Confirmed.
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>What if the train stops for 20 minutes halfway?
The stop doesn't change the total distance covered while moving, but it affects total trip time. Breakdown: - First half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles - Stop: 20 minutes (no distance) - Second half: 1.25 hours at 60 mph = 75 miles Total distance: 150 miles (same) Total time: 2.5 h + 0.33 h = 2.83 hours Average speed: 150 / 2.83 = 53 mph The distance stays the same but average speed drops to 53 mph because of the stop.
Estimated: 15.1 tok/s decode · 12.8s TTFT (warm) · 38 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 well15.1 tok/s6984 ms33K
CodingBTight fit15.1 tok/s12804 ms33K
Agentic CodingBTight fit15.1 tok/s18624 ms33K
ReasoningBTight fit15.1 tok/s15132 ms33K
RAGBTight fit15.1 tok/s23280 ms33K

Quantization options

How Mixtral 8x7B (47B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M4 Pro 64GB (46.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
18.3 GB
LowB62
Q3_K_S
3
23.0 GB
LowB64
NVFP4
4
26.3 GB
MediumB64
Q4_K_M
4
28.7 GB
MediumB63
Q5_K_MBest for your GPU
5
33.8 GB
HighB63
Q6_K
6
38.5 GB
HighF0
Q8_0
8
50.3 GB
Very HighF0
F16
16
96.4 GB
MaximumF0

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Mixtral 8x7B on your machine.

Run

ollama run mixtral

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Mixtral 8x7B well

MacBook Pro M4 Max 96GBBudget pick
96 GB Unified (+32)546 GB/s (+273)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 64%.24.7 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 64%.

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

~$2,499 MSRP

MacBook Pro M2 Max 96GBBest value
96 GB Unified (+32)400 GB/s (+127)
B
Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.16.7 tok/s decode

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

~$3,199 MSRP

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GBApple upgrade
96 GB Unified (+32)819 GB/s (+546)
B
Raises estimated decode speed by about 166%.40.1 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 166%.

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

~$3,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Pro M4 Pro 64GBSee all hardware for Mixtral 8x7B