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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/phi-4-14b-on-m3-max-64gb

⇱ Phi-4 14B on MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB? YES

Can Phi-4 14B run on MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB?

YES — Runs Great

A79Great
○Estimated from fit model

Phi-4 14B needs ~19.4 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB has 46.1 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~30 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: LowStack: StandardBottleneck: Balanced
Share:

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) — 19.4 GB, 30.2 tok/s, Runs well
19.4 GB required46.1 GB available
42% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

30.2 tok/s

TTFT

6408 ms

Safe context

16K

Memory

19.4 GB / 46.1 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights8.5 GB
KV Cache3.1 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom6.9 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsPhi-4 14B on MacBook Pro M3 Max 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: 30.2 tok/s decode · 6.4s TTFT (warm) · 76 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
ChatARuns well30.2 tok/s3495 ms16K
CodingARuns well30.2 tok/s6408 ms16K
Agentic CodingARuns well30.2 tok/s9321 ms16K
ReasoningARuns well30.2 tok/s7573 ms16K
RAGARuns well30.2 tok/s11651 ms16K

Quantization options

How Phi-4 14B (14B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB (46.1 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
5.5 GB
LowA74
Q3_K_S
3
6.9 GB
LowA74
NVFP4
4
7.8 GB
MediumA74
Q4_K_M
4
8.5 GB
MediumA74
Q5_K_M
5
10.1 GB
HighA75
Q6_K
6
11.5 GB
HighA75
Q8_0
8
15.0 GB
Very HighA76
F16Best for your GPU
16
28.7 GB
MaximumA80

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Phi-4 14B on your machine.

Run

ollama run phi4

Your hardware

More models your MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GB can run

ModelParamsGradeDecodeCapabilities
👁 Alibaba
Qwen3-Coder 30B A3B Instruct		30.5BS36.3 tok/s
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3.5 27B		27BS15.7 tok/s
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3.6 27B		27BS12 tok/s
👁 Alibaba
Qwen 3.6 35B A3B		35BS33.5 tok/s
👁 Alibaba
Qwen3-VL 30B A3B Instruct		30BS37.5 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Pro M3 Max 64GBSee all hardware for Phi-4 14B