Device profile · iOS
Best local LLMs for iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro has ~4.5 GB estimated usable for weights, cache and runtime; 43 of 161 tracked models fit at the estimated 4K baseline. Best tool: Apple Foundation Models.
- Usable memory
- ~4.5 GB
- Estimated fits
- 43
- Too large
- 118
- Suggested fit
- 3B
Runs at Q4_K_M using ~3.2 GB of ~4.5 GB usable.
The suggested model uses recorded Arena scores where available, then estimated fit and speed. Score coverage is partial; it does not establish the best model for every task. Fit is an estimate, not a benchmark on this device.
Set up Llama 3.2 3B on this device →
Estimated memory fits on iPhone 15 Pro
- TightGemma 4 E2B5.1B · ~4.4 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightQwen3-VL 4B4.44B · ~4.4 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightGemma 3 4B4B · ~3.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightQwen3 4B4B · ~3.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- NE TightNemotron 3 Nano 4B4B · ~3.9 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightPhi-3.5-mini 3.8B3.82B · ~3.7 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightPhi-4-mini 3.8B3.8B · ~3.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightPhi-4-mini-reasoning3.8B · ~3.6 GB at Q4_K_M
- TightQwen2.5-VL 3B3.75B · ~4.4 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesGranite 4.1 3B3.4B · ~3.3 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen2.5 3B3.09B · ~3.3 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen2.5 Coder 3B3.09B · ~3 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesLlama 3.2 3B3B · ~3.2 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesSmolLM3 3B3B · ~3 GB at Q4_K_M
- OP YesApple OpenELM 3B3B · ~3 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesMinistral 3 3B3B · ~3.2 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesGranite 4.2 3B3B · ~3.3 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesGemma 2 2B2.61B · ~2.9 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesGranite 3.1 2B2.53B · ~2.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM3 Omni 2B2.17B · ~3.1 GB at Q4_K_M
- S YesSarvam-1 2B2B · ~2.7 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM3-VL-2B1.92B · ~2.5 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM3-1.7B1.73B · ~2.1 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesSmolLM2 1.7B1.7B · ~2.2 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen3 1.7B1.7B · ~2.4 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen2.5 1.5B1.54B · ~2.2 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen2.5 Coder 1.5B1.54B · ~2 GB at Q4_K_M
- MI YesMiniCPM-V 4.61.3B · ~1.6 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM2 1.2B1.17B · ~2.5 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM2.5 1.2B1.17B · ~1.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM2.5 1.2B Thinking1.17B · ~1.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- TL YesTinyLlama 1.1B1.1B · ~1.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- OP YesApple OpenELM 1.1B1.1B · ~1.7 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesLlama 3.2 1B1B · ~1.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesGemma 3 1B1B · ~1.8 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM2 700M0.742B · ~1.9 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen3 0.6B0.6B · ~1.5 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen2.5 0.5B0.494B · ~1.5 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesQwen2.5 Coder 0.5B0.494B · ~1.4 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesSmolLM2 360M0.362B · ~1.2 GB at Q4_K_M
- LF YesLFM2 350M0.354B · ~1.4 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesGemma 3 270M0.27B · ~1.1 GB at Q4_K_M
- YesSmolLM2 135M0.135B · ~1 GB at Q4_K_M
Too large for this device
Best way to run models on iOS
Beginner: Apple Foundation Models, Built into iOS 26, ~3B on-device model, zero download, fully private.
Power user: PocketPal AI, Run any GGUF from HuggingFace fully offline.
Phones realistically run 1B-4B class models. Anything larger thermally throttles or OOMs.
Full iOS tool guide →FAQ
What is the best local LLM for iPhone 15 Pro?
Llama 3.2 3B is a suggested fit, using ~3.2 GB at Q4_K_M of the ~4.5 GB usable on iPhone 15 Pro.
How much of iPhone 15 Pro's memory can I use for a model?
About 4.5 GB. CPU and GPU share one memory pool; the rest stays with the operating system.
Which tool should I use on iOS?
Apple Foundation Models (Built into iOS 26, ~3B on-device model, zero download, fully private.) or PocketPal AI for speed. Phones realistically run 1B-4B class models. Anything larger thermally throttles or OOMs.
Compare nearby devices
Hardware with a similar usable pool, and how many of the 161 tracked models each runs next to iPhone 15 Pro's 43.
Sources
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cpu-monkey.com · 1 source
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developer.apple.com · 1 source
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enclaveai.app · 1 source
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forums.macrumors.com · 1 source
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github.com · 3 sources
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gorilla.cs.berkeley.edu · 1 source
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gsmarena.com · 1 source
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helloexpress.net · 1 source
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huggingface.co · 1 source
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layla-network.ai · 1 source
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lmarena.ai · 1 source
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ollama.com · 2 sources
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privatellm.app · 1 source
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support.apple.com · 1 source
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techinsights.com · 1 source
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wccftech.com · 1 source
Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.