Qwen2.5 on Apple M1 · 8GB

✅ Runs (tight) — Qwen2.5 3B @ Q5_K_M
Qwen2.5 3B at Q5_K_M needs ~2.8 GB (weights 2.0 GB + KV 288 MB + overhead 512 MB @ 8K ctx) of your 2.9 GB usable (of 8.0 GB unified memory) — fits, but little headroom — close other apps or trim context. Expect ~16–25 tok/s (fast).
context @ Q5_K_M: runs to its full 32K
quantneedsspeed
~ Q8_03.8 GB~1–2 tok/s (slow)
✓ Q5_K_M2.8 GB~16–25 tok/s (fast)
✓ Q4_K_M2.5 GB~19–30 tok/s (fast)
$runlocal install qwen2.5:3b
runlocal verdict card
download card share on x share on reddit drop it in your model-drop post
Qwen2.5: Runs (tight)
for your own README — links back here

Same model, other machines: Apple M1 Pro · Apple M2 · Apple M3 Pro · Apple M2 Pro · Apple M4 Pro · Apple M3 Max

Also runs on a Apple M1: DeepSeek-R1 (distill) · Qwen3 · Llama 3.2 · Gemma 2 · Gemma 3

Best models for a Apple M1 · 8GB →

Architecturally similar

These share Qwen2.5's KV-cache geometry — they size memory the same way, so here's how they fit on a Apple M1 · 8GB too:

modelsharesverdict here
Llama 3.1 8kv/128hd 🐢 CPU-only (slow)
Qwen2.5-Coder 2kv/128hd4kv/128hd8kv/128hd ✅ Runs comfortably
Llama 3.3 8kv/128hd ❌ Won't fit
Mistral 7B 8kv/128hd 🐢 CPU-only (slow)
Mistral Small 3 8kv/128hd ❌ Won't fit
Mistral Nemo 8kv/128hd ❌ Won't fit
Codestral 8kv/128hd ❌ Won't fit
Llama 3.2 Vision 8kv/128hd ❌ Won't fit

…and 12 more — see the Qwen2.5 page.

Check any combo yourself: open the checker →