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Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB vs Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB

For running models locally, priced in Germany. At 128k context the first runs 60 models fully in memory, the second 68.

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 68 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB 60; 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 3.0× as fast as the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB (estimated, median across models). In Germany the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB costs 2.999 € at eBay (used) and the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB 5.999 € at eBay: the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB is 3.000 € cheaper.

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

Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB

2.999 €

eBay, used (asking)

Add to build
Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB

5.999 €

eBay

Add to build

Specifications

SpecMac mini M4 Pro 64GBMac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB
ChipApple M4 Pro (20-core GPU)Apple M3 Ultra (80-core GPU)
Memory bus256-bit1024-bit
Memory bandwidth273 GB/s819 GB/s
FP16 compute8.08 TFLOPS28 TFLOPS
SoftwareMetalMetal
Unified memory64 GB96 GB
GPU can use by default48 GB72 GB
GPU can use, tuned56 GB88 GB
Operating systemmacosmacos
ProcessorM4 Pro 14-coreM3 Ultra 32-core
Storage1000 GB1000 GB

What each runs

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

ModelMac mini M4 Pro 64GBMac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB
Qwen 3.8 27B5tok/sQ8_014tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 122B-A10B16tok/sUD-Q2_K_XL41tok/sQ3_K_M
Qwen 3.6 27B5tok/sQ8_014tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 31B4tok/sQ8_012tok/sQ8_0
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12Bwon't run44tok/sUD-Q3_K_M
Qwen3 Coder Nextwon't run49tok/sQ6_K
gpt-oss 120Bwon't run40tok/sMXFP4
Mistral Small 4 119B20tok/sUD-Q2_K_XL44tok/sQ4_K_M
Qwen 3.6 35B-A3B18tok/sQ8_055tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 27B5tok/sQ8_014tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 26B-A4B15tok/sQ8_045tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.5 Airwon't run11tok/sQ2_K
Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B18tok/sQ8_055tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.7 Flash9tok/sQ8_026tok/sQ8_0
Devstral Small 2 24B4tok/sQ8_011tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 Next 80B-A3Bwon't run56tok/sQ6_K
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B26tok/sUD-Q6_K_XL76tok/sUD-Q6_K_XL
Kimi Linear 48B-A3B30tok/sQ6_K75tok/sQ8_0
gpt-oss 20B19tok/sMXFP457tok/sMXFP4
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3B7tok/sQ8_020tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 32Bwon't run8tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 12B12tok/sQ8_035tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 9B13tok/sQ8_038tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 3 27B4tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Mistral Small 3.2 24B4tok/sQ8_011tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bwon't run8tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 14B5tok/sQ8_015tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 14B5tok/sQ8_014tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B6tok/sQ8_019tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 8B6tok/sQ8_019tok/sQ8_0
Phi-4 14B4tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 4B20tok/sQ8_060tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B7tok/sQ8_020tok/sQ8_0
Granite 4.2 8B6tok/sQ8_017tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 E4B15tok/sQ8_044tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 8B-A1B14tok/sQ8_043tok/sQ8_0
Llama 3.1 8B8tok/sQ6_K22tok/sQ6_K
Qwen2.5 0.5B83tok/sQ8_0249tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3.5 0.8B73tok/sQ8_0218tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3.5 2B58tok/sQ5_K_M174tok/sQ5_K_M
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B31tok/sQ8_094tok/sQ8_0
Mellum2.1 12B A2.5B Thinking23tok/sQ8_070tok/sQ8_0
Spark X2.5 4B22tok/smlx-4bit67tok/smlx-4bit
MiniCPM5 2B21tok/sQ8_064tok/sQ8_0
FrogNano 4B 260920tok/sQ8_059tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 2.6B16tok/sQ8_049tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 VL 3B16tok/sQ8_049tok/sQ8_0
Kimi VL A3B Thinking 250615tok/sQ8_045tok/sQ8_0
Kimi VL A3B15tok/smlx-8bit44tok/smlx-8bit
GLM 4 9B 041413tok/smlx-5bit39tok/smlx-5bit
granite vision 4.1 4b12tok/sQ8_037tok/sQ8_0
granite 4.2 3b12tok/sQ8_036tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.6V Flash12tok/sQ8_035tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B11tok/sQ8_034tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.1V 9B Thinking10tok/smlx-8bit31tok/smlx-8bit
Ministral 3 3B Instruct 251210tok/sQ8_030tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 24B A2B8tok/sQ8_025tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B7tok/sQ8_021tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B Reasoning 25127tok/sQ8_020tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3.8 27B OBLITERATED6tok/smlx-4bit18tok/smlx-4bit
Muse Glimmer 30B5tok/sQ8_016tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 14B Reasoning 25125tok/sQ8_015tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 14B4tok/sQ8_013tok/sQ8_0
Devstral Small 25074tok/sQ8_011tok/sQ8_0
Magistral Small 25064tok/sQ8_011tok/sQ8_0
Magistral Small 25074tok/sQ8_011tok/sQ8_0
Magistral Small 25094tok/sQ8_011tok/sQ8_0
granite 4.2 30bwon't run8tok/sQ8_0
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
DeepSeek R1won't runwon't run
DeepSeek R1 0528won't runwon't run
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 70Bwon't runwon't run
DeepSeek R1 Zerowon't runwon't run
DeepSeek V3won't runwon't run
DeepSeek V3 0324won't runwon't run
DeepSeek V3.1won't runwon't run
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminuswon't runwon't run
DeepSeek V3.2won't runwon't run
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731won't runwon't run
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Expwon't runwon't run
Devstral 2 123B Instruct 2512won't runwon't run
GLM 4.5won't runwon't run
GLM 4.5Vwon't runwon't run
GLM 4.6won't runwon't run
GLM 4.6Vwon't runwon't run
GLM 4.7won't runwon't run
GLM 5won't runwon't run
GLM 5.1won't runwon't run
GLM 5.2won't runwon't run
GLM 5.3won't runwon't run
Kimi Dev 72Bwon't runwon't run
Kimi K2won't runwon't run
Kimi K2 Instruct 0905won't runwon't run
Kimi K2 Thinkingwon't runwon't run
Kimi K2.5won't runwon't run
MiniMax M2won't runwon't run
MiniMax M2.1won't runwon't run
MiniMax M2.5won't runwon't run
MiniMax M3won't runwon't run
Mistral Medium 3.5 128Bwon't runwon't run

Questions

Which is better for local AI, the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB or the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?
Choose the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB to run bigger models. Choose the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB for speed. Choose the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB to spend less.
Which can run bigger models, the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB or the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?
At 128k context the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB runs 68 of the models we track fully in memory and the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB 60; only the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB holds Qwen3 Coder Next.
Which is faster for local AI, the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB or the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?
On the models both run fully in memory, the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB is about 3.0× as fast as the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB (estimated, median across models).
What is the price difference between the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB and the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB?
In Germany the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB costs 2.999 € at eBay (used) and the Mac Studio M3 Ultra 96GB 5.999 € at eBay: the Mac mini M4 Pro 64GB is 3.000 € cheaper.

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