GPU comparison
MacBook Pro M5 Max (36GB) vs NVIDIA RTX 4070 (12GB) 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 M5 Max (36GB) | NVIDIA RTX 4070 (12GB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 36.0 GB | 12.0 GB |
| Bandwidth | 460 GB/s | 504 GB/s |
| Price (approx) | $3,599 | $549 |
| LLMs it runs | 47 of 64 | 27 of 64 |
| Best model it runs | Qwen3.8 27B · 13–20 tok/s | Devstral Small 2 24B · 35–53 tok/s |
The MacBook Pro M5 Max (36GB) runs 20 more of the tracked models (47 vs 27), thanks to its 36.0 GB of memory. The NVIDIA RTX 4070 (12GB) has more memory bandwidth (504 GB/s), so it generates tokens faster at the same model and quant.