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text model · Granite · macOS

Can I run Granite 4.1 3B on Apple M4 Pro (48GB)?

Compatibility verdict VRAM threshold engine
Yes, it runs GPU accelerated ~104 tok/s est.

Yes. Granite 4.1 3B runs on Apple M4 Pro (48GB) at Q4_K_M (~3.3 GB of ~32 GB usable).

Needs ~3.3 GB Device usable ~32 GB

Runs at Q4_K_M using ~3.3 GB of ~32 GB usable. You have room for FP16 for higher quality.

That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes. Apple M4 Pro (48GB) leaves ~28.7 GB of headroom, room to step up to FP16 for higher quality.

Q4_K_M needed
~3.3 GB
Usable on device
~32 GB
Device memory
48 GB
Best quant
Q4_K_M
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Which quant fits

Quant ladder vs ~32 GB usable
Q2_K
~2.6 GB
Q3_K_M
~2.9 GB
Q4_K_M
~3.3 GB
Q5_K_M
~3.6 GB
Q6_K
~4 GB
Q8_0
~4.8 GB
FP16
~8 GB
The line marks Apple M4 Pro (48GB)'s ~32 GB budget; rungs past it are too large.

Running cost · estimate

Power & economics est.
Power draw
~140 W
Electricity / 1M tokens
~$0.06
Pays for itself after
~5,452M tok

At ~$0.15/kWh and the estimated ~104 tok/s, a million generated tokens costs about $0.06 in electricity. Versus a hosted API at ~$0.5 per million tokens, the ~$2,399 Apple M4 Pro (48GB) pays for itself after roughly 5,452 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.

Run it

Install commands macOS

Loads the Q4_K_M weights.

Ollama
$ ollama run granite4.1:3b
Model Granite
Parameters
3.4B
Q4_K_M size
2.1 GB
Q8_0 size
3.6 GB
Context
128k
Ollama tag
granite4.1:3b
Full Granite 4.1 3B requirements →
Device macOS
Memory
48 GB unified
Usable for weights
~32 GB
Power draw
~140 W
Best runtime
Ollama (MLX backend) / MLX direct
Best models for Apple M4 Pro (48GB) →

You could also run

Run Granite 4.1 3B on other hardware

FAQ

Can Apple M4 Pro (48GB) run Granite 4.1 3B?

Yes. Granite 4.1 3B runs on Apple M4 Pro (48GB) at Q4_K_M (~3.3 GB of ~32 GB usable).

How much memory does Granite 4.1 3B need?

Apple M4 Pro (48GB) has room to spare. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~2.1 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~3.3 GB at a 4k context.

What is the best tool to run Granite 4.1 3B on macOS?

LM Studio for a simple setup; mlx-lm for the most speed. vLLM is NOT a Mac tool, it is a CUDA/Linux serving engine. Unified memory is not a fixed VRAM slice; ~70% is usable for weights.

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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.