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URL: https://willitrunai.com/can-run/phi-4-reasoning-plus-14b-on-m3-24gb

⇱ Phi-4-reasoning-plus 14B on MacBook Pro M3 24GB? TIGHT FIT

Can Phi-4-reasoning-plus 14B run on MacBook Pro M3 24GB?

YES — Tight Fit

S86Excellent
○Estimated from fit model

Phi-4-reasoning-plus 14B needs ~15.5 GB VRAM. MacBook Pro M3 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~8 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: TightBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth
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) — 15.5 GB, 8.2 tok/s, Tight fit
15.5 GB required17.3 GB available
90% VRAM used

Fit status

Tight fit

Decode

8.2 tok/s

TTFT

23748 ms

Safe context

25K

Memory

15.5 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights9.0 GB
KV Cache3.1 GB
Runtime0.9 GB
Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsPhi-4-reasoning-plus 14B on MacBook Pro M3 24GB
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: 8.2 tok/s decode · 23.7s TTFT (warm) · 20 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
ChatSRuns well8.2 tok/s12954 ms25K
CodingSTight fit8.2 tok/s23748 ms25K
Agentic CodingARuns with offload (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)7.2 tok/s39160 ms25K
ReasoningSTight fit8.2 tok/s28066 ms25K
RAGARuns with offload (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)7.2 tok/s48951 ms25K

Quantization options

How Phi-4-reasoning-plus 14B (14.699999809265137B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Pro M3 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

QuantBitsVRAMQualityFit
Q2_K
2
5.7 GB
LowS88
Q3_K_S
3
7.2 GB
LowS90
NVFP4
4
8.2 GB
MediumS91
Q4_K_M
4
9.0 GB
MediumS91
Q5_K_M
5
10.6 GB
HighS91
Q6_KBest for your GPU
6
12.1 GB
HighS90
Q8_0
8
15.7 GB
Very HighF0
F16
16
30.1 GB
MaximumF0

Get started

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

Run

ollama run phi4-reasoning

Your hardware

More models your MacBook Pro M3 24GB can run

ModelParamsGradeDecodeCapabilities
👁 Mistral
Magistral Small 2507		24BB3.8 tok/s
👁 Mistral
Devstral Small 2 24B Instruct		24BB3.8 tok/s

Frequently asked questions

See all results for MacBook Pro M3 24GBSee all hardware for Phi-4-reasoning-plus 14B