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text model · Yi · macOS

Can I run Yi 1.5 34B on Apple M5 Pro (48GB)?

Compatibility verdict VRAM threshold engine
Yes, it runs usable speed ~13 tok/s est.

Yes. Yi 1.5 34B runs on Apple M5 Pro (48GB) at Q4_K_M (~21.4 GB of ~32 GB usable).

Needs ~21.4 GB Device usable ~32 GB

Runs at Q4_K_M using ~21.4 GB of ~32 GB usable.

That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes. Apple M5 Pro (48GB) leaves ~10.6 GB of headroom.

Q4_K_M needed
~21.4 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
~16.4 GB
Q3_K_M
~18.8 GB
Q4_K_M
~21.4 GB
Q5_K_M
~26.4 GB
Q6_K
~30.1 GB
Q8_0
~36.2 GB
FP16
~70.2 GB
The line marks Apple M5 Pro (48GB)'s ~32 GB budget; rungs past it are too large.

Run it

Install commands macOS

Pick your tool. All 2 load the same Q4_K_M weights.

llama.cpp
$ llama-cli -hf bartowski/Yi-1.5-34B-Chat-GGUF:Q4_K_M
LM Studio
$ lms get bartowski/Yi-1.5-34B-Chat-GGUF

How to run it

On macOS use LM Studio (Polished GUI, ships MLX on Apple Silicon, one-click model downloads.).

Model Yi
Parameters
34B
Q4_K_M size
19.24 GB
Q8_0 size
34.03 GB
Context
32k
Full Yi 1.5 34B requirements →
Device macOS
Memory
48 GB unified
Usable for weights
~32 GB
Best runtime
MLX direct / Ollama (MLX backend)
Best models for Apple M5 Pro (48GB) →

You could also run

Run Yi 1.5 34B on other hardware

FAQ

Can Apple M5 Pro (48GB) run Yi 1.5 34B?

Yes. Yi 1.5 34B runs on Apple M5 Pro (48GB) at Q4_K_M (~21.4 GB of ~32 GB usable).

How much memory does Yi 1.5 34B need?

Apple M5 Pro (48GB) has room to spare. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~19.24 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~21.4 GB at a 4k context.

What is the best tool to run Yi 1.5 34B 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.