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

GB minimum

Engine

MLX

recommended

Benchmark Details

LLMCheck measured Qwen 3.5 4B 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	148 tok/s
Time to first token	0.2s
Quantization	Q4_K_M
Minimum RAM	64 GB
Recommended engine	MLX
Parameters	4B
Benchmark date	2026-03

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

Chip	Speed	First Token	Min RAM	Engine
M4	92 tok/s	0.4s	16 GB	Ollama

System Requirements

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

• Mac with M5 Max chip (or newer)
• 64 GB unified memory minimum
• macOS 13 Ventura or later
• ~54-64 GB free disk space for the model file
• MLX installed (see our Ollama install guide)

Compare More Models

See how Qwen 3.5 4B stacks up against other models on your specific Mac hardware.

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