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Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB vs Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB

For running models locally, priced in Canada. At 128k context the first runs 37 models fully in memory, the second 30.

In short

The Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB has more memory for models: 96 GB against 64 GB. At 128k context the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB runs 37 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB 30; only the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB holds Qwen3 Coder Next. On the models both run fully in memory, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB is about 1.5× as fast as the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB (estimated, median across models).

Updated . Speeds are estimates; how they are worked out.

Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB

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Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB

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Specifications

SpecMac Studio M3 Ultra 96GBMac Studio M4 Max 64GB
ChipApple M3 Ultra (80-core GPU)Apple M4 Max (40-core GPU)
Memory bus1024-bit512-bit
Memory bandwidth819 GB/s546 GB/s
FP16 compute28 TFLOPS16.16 TFLOPS
SoftwareMetalMetal
Unified memory96 GB64 GB
GPU can use by default72 GB48 GB
GPU can use, tuned88 GB56 GB
Operating systemmacosmacos
ProcessorM3 Ultra 32-coreM4 Max 16-core
Storage1000 GB1000 GB

What each runs

Estimated decode speed with the most precise quant that fits each one est.

ModelMac Studio M3 Ultra 96GBMac Studio M4 Max 64GB
Qwen 3.8 27B14tok/sQ8_09tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 122B-A10B41tok/sQ3_K_M32tok/sUD-Q2_K_XL
Qwen 3.6 27B14tok/sQ8_010tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 Coder Next49tok/sQ6_Kwon't run
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12B44tok/sUD-Q3_K_Mwon't run
gpt-oss 120B40tok/sMXFP4won't run
Gemma 4 31B12tok/sQ8_08tok/sQ8_0
Mistral Small 4 119B51tok/sUD-Q3_K_M40tok/sUD-Q2_K_XL
Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B55tok/sQ8_037tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 27B14tok/sQ8_010tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 26B-A4B45tok/sQ8_030tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.5 Air10tok/sQ2_Kwon't run
Qwen3 Next 80B-A3B56tok/sQ6_Kwon't run
Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B55tok/sQ8_037tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.7 Flash26tok/sQ8_017tok/sQ8_0
Devstral Small 2 24B11tok/sQ8_08tok/sQ8_0
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B76tok/sUD-Q6_K_XL51tok/sUD-Q6_K_XL
Kimi Linear 48B-A3B75tok/sQ8_060tok/sQ6_K
gpt-oss 20B57tok/sMXFP438tok/sMXFP4
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3B20tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 32B8tok/sQ8_0won't run
Gemma 4 12B35tok/sQ8_023tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 9B38tok/sQ8_026tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 3 27B13tok/sQ8_09tok/sQ8_0
Mistral Small 3.2 24B11tok/sQ8_08tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B8tok/sQ8_0won't run
Ministral 3 14B15tok/sQ8_010tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 14B14tok/sQ8_010tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B19tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 8B19tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Phi-4 14B13tok/sQ8_08tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 4B60tok/sQ8_040tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B20tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Granite 4.2 8B17tok/sQ8_012tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 E4B44tok/sQ8_030tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 8B-A1B43tok/sQ8_028tok/sQ8_0
Llama 3.1 8B22tok/sQ6_K15tok/sQ6_K
DeepSeek V4 Flashwon't runwon't run
GLM 5.3 Flashwon't runwon't run
Qwen 3.8 Flash Nextwon't runwon't run
MiniMax M2.7won't runwon't run
Llama 3.3 70Bwon't runwon't run

Questions

Which is better for local AI, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB or the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB?
Choose the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB to run bigger models. Choose the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB for speed.
Which can run bigger models, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB or the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB?
At 128k context the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB runs 37 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB 30; only the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB holds Qwen3 Coder Next.
Which is faster for local AI, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB or the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB?
On the models both run fully in memory, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB is about 1.5× as fast as the Mac Studio M4 Max 64GB (estimated, median across models).

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