GPU comparison
MacBook Air/Pro M5 (16GB) vs Mac mini M6 (32GB) 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 Air/Pro M5 (16GB) | Mac mini M6 (32GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 16.0 GB | 32.0 GB |
| Bandwidth | 153 GB/s | 170 GB/s |
| Price (approx) | $1,099 | $1,299 |
| LLMs it runs | 27 of 64 | 47 of 64 |
| Best model it runs | Devstral Small 2 24B · 10–15 tok/s | Qwen3.8 27B · 10–15 tok/s |
The Mac mini M6 (32GB) runs 20 more of the tracked models (47 vs 27), thanks to its 32.0 GB of memory. The Mac mini M6 (32GB) has more memory bandwidth (170 GB/s), so it generates tokens faster at the same model and quant.