Run Llama 3.1 8B on M5 Max

Yes — Llama 3.1 8B (8B) runs at 138 tok/s on M5 Max with 128 GB RAM using Q4_K_M quantization via MLX. First token latency is 0.3s. Meta's widely-adopted 8B Llama 3.1 model with great ecosystem support.

Speed

138

tok/s

First Token

0.3

seconds

RAM Needed

128

GB minimum

Engine

MLX

recommended

Benchmark Details

LLMCheck measured Llama 3.1 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	138 tok/s
Time to first token	0.3s
Quantization	Q4_K_M
Minimum RAM	128 GB
Recommended engine	MLX
Parameters	8B
Benchmark date	2026-03

Q4_K_M 8B MLX M5 Max

Setup Guide: Run Llama 3.1 8B on M5 Max

The recommended engine for Llama 3.1 8B on M5 Max is MLX. Install with pip and pull the model:

pip install mlx-lm

mlx_lm.generate --model mlx-community/llama-31-8b-q4_k_m --prompt "Hello!"

Alternatively, you can use Ollama for a simpler setup:

ollama run llama3.1:8b

Performance on Other Apple Silicon Chips

Chip	Speed	First Token	Min RAM	Engine
M4	75 tok/s	0.6s	16 GB	Ollama
M3 Pro	62 tok/s	0.7s	18 GB	Ollama
M2	48 tok/s	0.8s	8 GB	Ollama
M1	40 tok/s	1.1s	16 GB	Ollama

System Requirements

To run Llama 3.1 8B on M5 Max you need:

• Mac with M5 Max chip (or newer)
• 128 GB unified memory minimum
• macOS 13 Ventura or later
• ~108-128 GB free disk space for the model file
• MLX installed (see our Ollama install guide)

Compare More Models

See how Llama 3.1 8B stacks up against other models on your specific Mac hardware.

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