Can I run this LLM?
Can a MacBook Air M3 (8GB) run Mellum2.1 12B A2.5B Thinking (MoE)?
Mellum · Apache 2.0 · estimated for a 8.0 GB machine at 4K context.
No — too big for this machine.
Mellum2.1 12B A2.5B Thinking (MoE) needs more memory than the 8.0 GB on a MacBook Air M3 (8GB), even at its smallest quantization.
Pack & allocation notes: KV estimates assume a 1,024-token sliding window on 21 of 28 layers; actual runtime allocation may be higher. MXFP4_MOE is not listed. The FP16 label uses BF16 weights.
Arena Text Overall · style-controlled
UnratedNo exact matchNo reviewed exact Arena match
No reviewed exact model/configuration match in the Arena Text Overall style-controlled snapshot. No family or editorial score is substituted. Local quantization quality is unmeasured.
Snapshot published 2026-10-08 · snapshot imported 2026-10-11 UTC · validated last-good data · manual refresh
Arena leaderboard dataset · Arena / lmarena-ai, Arena Leaderboard Dataset (CC BY 4.0). Selected Text Overall style-controlled rows; field names adapted, ratings unchanged. · dataset CC BY 4.0 · revision e16f90232986
Too big for your machine — run it in the cloud
Needs 1× 24–32 GB GPU (RTX 4090 / 5090 / L4) · about $0.30–0.80/hr
- RunPod — Per-second GPU pods — bring your own GGUF, spin up on demand.
- Vast.ai — Cheap GPU marketplace — rent by the hour, bring your own GGUF.
- Vultr — Cloud GPU VMs by the hour — full root access, run any stack.
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Ran Mellum2.1 12B A2.5B Thinking (MoE) on a MacBook Air M3 (8GB)? Add your real numbers →