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text model · DeepSeek-R1-Distill · iOS

Can I run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B on iPhone 17 Pro?

Compatibility verdict VRAM threshold engine
Yes, it runs slow on this hardware ~8 tok/s est.

Yes. DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B runs on iPhone 17 Pro at Q4_K_M (~6.4 GB of ~8 GB usable).

Needs ~6.4 GB Device usable ~8 GB

Runs at Q4_K_M using ~6.4 GB of ~8 GB usable.

That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes. iPhone 17 Pro leaves ~1.6 GB of headroom.

Q4_K_M needed
~6.4 GB
Usable on device
~8 GB
Device memory
12 GB
Best quant
Q4_K_M
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Which quant fits

Quant ladder vs ~8 GB usable
Q2_K
~4.9 GB
Q3_K_M
~5.4 GB
Q4_K_M
~6.4 GB
Q5_K_M
~7.2 GB
Q6_K
~8.1 GB
Q8_0
~10 GB
FP16
~17.5 GB
The line marks iPhone 17 Pro's ~8 GB budget; rungs past it are too large.

Running cost · estimate

Power & economics est.
Power draw
~12 W
Electricity / 1M tokens
~$0.06
Pays for itself after
~2,498M tok

At ~$0.15/kWh and the estimated ~8 tok/s, a million generated tokens costs about $0.06 in electricity. Versus a hosted API at ~$0.5 per million tokens, the ~$1,099 iPhone 17 Pro pays for itself after roughly 2,498 million tokens, so local hardware is mostly a fixed cost, not a per-token one. TDP is the peak draw, so this is an upper bound. Assumptions.

How to run it

On iOS use Apple Foundation Models (Built into iOS 26, ~3B on-device model, zero download, fully private.).

Model DeepSeek-R1-Distill
Parameters
8B
Q4_K_M size
4.92 GB
Q8_0 size
8.54 GB
Context
128k
Ollama tag
deepseek-r1:8b
Full DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B requirements →
Device iOS
Memory
12 GB unified
Usable for weights
~8 GB
Power draw
~12 W
Best runtime
llama.cpp + Metal (via PocketPal or Off Grid app)
Best models for iPhone 17 Pro →

You could also run

Run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B on other hardware

FAQ

Can iPhone 17 Pro run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B?

Yes. DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B runs on iPhone 17 Pro at Q4_K_M (~6.4 GB of ~8 GB usable).

How much memory does DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B need?

iPhone 17 Pro has room to spare. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~4.92 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~6.4 GB at a 4k context.

What is the best tool to run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama 8B on iOS?

On iPhone and iPad, Apple Foundation Models (Built into iOS 26, ~3B on-device model, zero download, fully private.) is the standard choice. Phones realistically run 1B-4B class models. Anything larger thermally throttles or OOMs.

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Sources

Weights are measured from GGUF files; KV cache and overhead are computed, so totals can vary ~15% with context and runtime. Any tok/s is a bandwidth estimate. See methodology.