Yes — DeepSeek R1 8B (8B) runs at 97 tok/s on M5 Max with 64 GB RAM using Q4_K_M quantization via Ollama. First token latency is 0.5s. DeepSeek's MIT-licensed 8B reasoning model with chain-of-thought thinking.
LLMCheck measured DeepSeek R1 8B on M5 Max using the standard methodology: Q4_K_M quantization, 256-token input, 512-token output, 3 runs averaged on a freshly-booted system.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Tokens per second | 97 tok/s |
| Time to first token | 0.5s |
| Quantization | Q4_K_M |
| Minimum RAM | 64 GB |
| Recommended engine | Ollama |
| Parameters | 8B |
| Benchmark date | 2026-03 |
Q4_K_M 8B Ollama M5 Max
The recommended engine for DeepSeek R1 8B on M5 Max is Ollama. Install Ollama, then pull the model:
Ollama handles quantization automatically — it will download the Q4_K_M variant (~64 GB) and start an interactive chat session.
| Chip | Speed | First Token | Min RAM | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M4 | 78 tok/s | 0.5s | 16 GB | MLX |
| M2 | 58 tok/s | 0.8s | 16 GB | Ollama |
| M1 | 38 tok/s | 1.2s | 16 GB | Ollama |
To run DeepSeek R1 8B on M5 Max you need:
See how DeepSeek R1 8B stacks up against other models on your specific Mac hardware.
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