GPU comparison
MacBook Pro M4 Pro (48GB) vs MacBook Air/Pro M5 (16GB) for local LLMs
How the two stack up for running open-source LLMs locally — memory, bandwidth, price, and how many of the 64 tracked models each one can run.
| MacBook Pro M4 Pro (48GB) | MacBook Air/Pro M5 (16GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 48.0 GB | 16.0 GB |
| Bandwidth | 273 GB/s | 153 GB/s |
| Price (approx) | $2,399 | $1,099 |
| LLMs it runs | 49 of 64 | 27 of 64 |
| Best model it runs | Qwen3.8 27B · 12–19 tok/s | Devstral Small 2 24B · 10–15 tok/s |
The MacBook Pro M4 Pro (48GB) runs 22 more of the tracked models (49 vs 27), thanks to its 48.0 GB of memory. The MacBook Pro M4 Pro (48GB) has more memory bandwidth (273 GB/s), so it generates tokens faster at the same model and quant.