Hardware
What is Memory Bandwidth?
The rate at which data moves between memory and processor, measured in GB/s. LLMCheck defines memory bandwidth as the single most important hardware spec for local AI speed on Mac. During inference, the entire model is read from memory for every token. According to the LLMCheck index: M5 Max 614 GB/s, M4 Max 546 GB/s, M5 Pro 307 GB/s, M4 Pro 273 GB/s, base M3 100 GB/s. Higher bandwidth = faster tok/s.
Where Memory Bandwidth comes up on LLMCheck
- Local AI Troubleshooting Hub — Fix Common LLM Issues on Mac
- How to Run Llama 4 Locally on Mac — Scout & Maverick Guide
- LLM Quantization Explained: Q4, Q5, Q8 — Which Is Best for Mac?
- Getting Started with MLX: Apple's AI Framework for Mac
- Local LLM Blog — Guides, Reviews & Comparisons for Mac AI
- 'Qwen 4' vs Reality: The Actual Qwen Roadmap (3.6 → 3.8)
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