SmolLM3 3B on Apple M1 · 8GB

✅ Runs (tight) — SmolLM3 3B @ Q4_K_M
SmolLM3 3B 3B at Q4_K_M needs ~2.8 GB (weights 1.8 GB + KV 576 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 @ Q4_K_M: runs to its full 64K
quantneedsspeed
~ Q8_04.1 GB~1–2 tok/s (slow)
~ Q5_K_M3.1 GB~2–3 tok/s (slow)
✓ Q4_K_M2.8 GB~16–25 tok/s (fast)
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SmolLM3 3B: 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) · Qwen2.5 · Qwen3 · Llama 3.2 · Gemma 2

Best models for a Apple M1 · 8GB →

Architecturally similar

These share SmolLM3 3B's KV-cache geometry — they size memory the same way, so here's how they fit on a Apple M1 · 8GB too:

modelsharesverdict here
Qwen2.5-Coder 4kv/128hd ✅ Runs comfortably
StarCoder2 4kv/128hd ✅ Runs (tight)
Yi 1.5 4kv/128hd 🐢 CPU-only (slow)
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3B 4kv/128hd ❌ Won't fit
Yi-Coder 9B 4kv/128hd 🐢 CPU-only (slow)

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