Cloudzat Apple Local AI Intelligence
What AI Models Can My Mac Run? Apple Silicon Model Checker
This checker is designed for people who already own a Mac. Select the chip and memory, then test model sizes and quantizations. The result distinguishes comfortable use from dedicated inference, likely swapping and configurations that should not be expected to fit.
Check a model against your Mac
Select your hardware and workload. The result appears only after you click Check model fit.
A model can load without being comfortable
A successful launch does not prove that the system has enough headroom for a long context, document retrieval, browser tabs or an IDE. The checker reserves memory for those practical demands.
Runtime choice can change the result
MLX, llama.cpp, Ollama and LM Studio use different kernels, formats and caches. The estimate includes a runtime allowance, but the exact footprint should be verified with the selected model.
Performance depends on more than memory
Chip generation, memory bandwidth, model architecture and prompt size affect speed. The checker focuses first on fit because a model that does not fit cannot deliver useful sustained performance.
Frequently asked questions
Can an 8GB Apple Silicon Mac run a local model?
Yes, but the practical choices are limited to smaller and more aggressively quantized models. macOS and normal applications leave relatively little memory for inference.
Can a 24GB Mac run a 32B model?
Some low-bit quantizations may technically fit with limited context and few background applications, but it is often a constrained dedicated-inference setup rather than a comfortable desktop workflow.
What does comfortable mean?
Comfortable means the estimate retains operating-system reserve, background-app allowance and safety headroom after loading the model and context cache.