Hardware comparison
MacBook Air/Pro / Mac mini M4 (16GB) vs MacBook Pro / Mac Studio M4 Max (128GB) for local LLMs
How the two stack up for running open-source LLMs locally — memory, bandwidth, price, and how many of the 69 tracked models each one can run.
Scroll sideways to compare both machines. Keyboard: focus the table, then use the arrow keys. Metric names stay visible.
| Hardware | MacBook Air/Pro / Mac mini M4 (16GB) | MacBook Pro / Mac Studio M4 Max (128GB) |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 16.0 GB | 128.0 GB (better for this comparison) |
| Bandwidth | 120 GB/s | 546 GB/s (better for this comparison) |
| Price (approx) | $1,199 (better for this comparison)Complete system | $4,699Complete system |
| LLMs it runs | 30 of 69 | 62 of 69 (better for this comparison) |
| Best model it runs | Mistral Small 3.2 24BQ2_K · estimated 8–12 tok/s | Gemma 4 31BQ6_K · estimated 13–19 tok/s |
Both prices cover complete systems. Prices are approximate catalog estimates; check current configurations and prices before buying.
The recommended models and quants differ. These estimated speeds are not a like-for-like comparison. Estimates use 4,096 context tokens, llama.cpp and one stream.
The MacBook Pro / Mac Studio M4 Max (128GB) runs 32 more of the tracked models (62 vs 30), thanks to its 128.0 GB of memory. The MacBook Pro / Mac Studio M4 Max (128GB) has more memory bandwidth (546 GB/s). Higher bandwidth can help generation speed, but model, quant, architecture and runtime also affect the estimates.