Run Qwen 3.5 4B on M5 Max

Yes — Qwen 3.5 4B (4B) runs at 148 tok/s on M5 Max with 64 GB RAM using Q4_K_M quantization via MLX. First token latency is 0.2s. Alibaba's compact 4B model offering excellent quality-per-token for its size.

Speed
148
tok/s
First Token
0.2
seconds
RAM Needed
64
GB minimum
Engine
MLX
recommended
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Benchmark Details

The LLMCheck index estimates Qwen 3.5 4B on M5 Max 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 →

MetricValue
Tokens per second148 tok/s
Time to first token0.2s
QuantizationQ4_K_M
Minimum RAM64 GB
Recommended engineMLX
Parameters4B
Benchmark date2026-03

Q4_K_M 4B MLX M5 Max

Setup Guide: Run Qwen 3.5 4B on M5 Max

The recommended engine for Qwen 3.5 4B on M5 Max is MLX. Install with pip and pull the model:

pip install mlx-lm
mlx_lm.generate --model mlx-community/qwen-35-4b-q4_k_m --prompt "Hello!"

Alternatively, you can use Ollama for a simpler setup:

ollama run qwen3.5:4b

Performance on Other Apple Silicon Chips

ChipSpeedFirst TokenMin RAMEngine
M4 92 tok/s 0.4s 16 GB Ollama

System Requirements

To run Qwen 3.5 4B on M5 Max you need:

🛒 Get a Mac that runs Qwen 3.5 4B

Qwen 3.5 4B needs about 64 GB of unified memory. These current Apple Silicon Macs have the headroom to run it comfortably:

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Compare More Models

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