Local LLM Beginner’s Guide (Mac - Apple Silicon)
r/artificial
•
Generative AI
AI Hardware
Open Source AI
If you're getting started with running local LLMs on a Mac (M1 or newer), here’s a rough breakdown of what you can expect based on RAM: 32-64 GB RAM Models: Qwen 3.6, Gemma 4 Performance: Comparable to Claude Sonnet-level models Good for: Daily use, coding help, lightweight agents ~128 GB RAM Models: Minimax M2.7 (and similar mid-large models) Performance: Around Claude Opus-level Good for: Heavier reasoning, longer context tasks 256 GB+ RAM Models: GLM 5.1 Performance: Near top-tier.