Yes — DeepSeek R1 70B (70B) runs at 24 tok/s on M5 Ultra with 96 GB RAM using Q4_K_M quantization via MLX. First token latency is Nones. DeepSeek's full 70B reasoning distillation — requires 64 GB+ Mac.
Want to run DeepSeek R1 70B faster — or step up to bigger models? Find your Mac →The LLMCheck index estimates DeepSeek R1 70B on M5 Ultra using our published methodology: Q4_K_M quantization, memory-bandwidth scaling, and cross-referenced third-party benchmarks where available. Figures are transparent estimates — own this config? Submit a real benchmark →
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Tokens per second | 24 tok/s |
| Time to first token | Nones |
| Quantization | Q4_K_M |
| Minimum RAM | 96 GB |
| Recommended engine | MLX |
| Parameters | 70B |
| Benchmark date | 2026-08 |
Q4_K_M 70B MLX M5 Ultra
The recommended engine for DeepSeek R1 70B on M5 Ultra is MLX. Install with pip and pull the model:
Alternatively, you can use Ollama for a simpler setup:
| Chip | Speed | First Token | Min RAM | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M4 Ultra | 21 tok/s | 2.2s | 192 GB | MLX |
| M1 Ultra | 16 tok/s | 0.9s | 128 GB | Ollama |
| M5 Max | 12 tok/s | 3.0s | 128 GB | Ollama |
To run DeepSeek R1 70B on M5 Ultra you need:
DeepSeek R1 70B needs about 96 GB of unified memory. These current Apple Silicon Macs have the headroom to run it comfortably:
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See how DeepSeek R1 70B stacks up against other models on your specific Mac hardware.
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