Question 1

Can I run Llama 3.2 3B on a Apple M3 Max?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Apple M3 Max runs Llama 3.2 3B fully on GPU at the FP16 quantization. Full GPU inference — 128 GB VRAM meets the 10 GB recommendation.

Question 2

What quantization of Llama 3.2 3B should I use on a Apple M3 Max?

Accepted Answer

For 128 GB VRAM on the Apple M3 Max, the FP16 variant is the best fit. Estimated ~62.5 tokens/sec on the FP16 quantization.

Question 3

How fast does Llama 3.2 3B run on Apple M3 Max?

Accepted Answer

Roughly 62.5 tokens/sec for FP16. Real speed depends on context length, backend (Ollama, llama.cpp, LM Studio), and KV cache size.

Question 4

What if Apple M3 Max is not enough for Llama 3.2 3B?

Accepted Answer

Try a smaller quantization variant or run on CPU + RAM with the trade-off of slower generation.

Quantization	File Size	Min VRAM	Rec VRAM	Context	Verdict	Estimated tok/s
Q4_K_M	2 GB	3 GB	4 GB	8K / 128K	Full GPU	~160
Q8_0	3.4 GB	4.5 GB	6 GB	8K / 128K	Full GPU	~112
FP16Best fit	6.4 GB	7.5 GB	10 GB	8K / 128K	Full GPU	~62.5

Can I Run Llama 3.2 3B on Apple M3 Max?

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