GPU GUIDE · APPLE

Best AI models for the
Apple M3 (8GB)

The Apple M3 (8GB) has 8.0GB of unified memory. Below are the top 30 open-source AI models that fit, ranked by composite benchmark score. Each row shows the best quantization that fits your hardware.

VRAM

8.0GB

Brand

apple

Models that fit

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Top 30 models for the Apple M3 (8GB)

FAQ — running AI on the Apple M3 (8GB)

How many AI models can the Apple M3 (8GB) run?

With 8.0GB of unified memory, the Apple M3 (8GB) can run 30+ open-source models from our database, including Qwen 3.5 9B, Qwen 3.5 4B, Devstral Small 2.

What's the largest LLM I can run on a Apple M3 (8GB)?

The biggest model that fits is approximately 11.0B. Larger models would need to be quantized further or won't fit at all.

Is 8.0GB of unified memory enough for local AI?

Tight but workable. 8.0GB runs 3B-7B models well at Q4. For coding or reasoning models you may want more memory.

Best AI models for theApple M3 (8GB)

Top 30 models for the Apple M3 (8GB)

Qwen 3.5 9B

Qwen 3.5 4B

Devstral Small 2

gemma 4 E4B it

Qwen3 4B Thinking 2507

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B

Qwen 3.5 2B

gemma 4 E2B it

Ministral 3 8B

Gemma 4 E2B

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 4B BF16

Ministral 3 8B 2512

Nemotron Nano 9B V2 (free)

Qwen3 4B

Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct

Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking

Qwen3 8B

Qwen3 4B Instruct 2507

Granite 4.1 8B

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

Ministral 3 3B 2512

Ministral 3 3B

Qwen 3.5 0.8B

Qwen 2.5 Coder 7B

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

Llama 3 8B Instruct

granite 4.1 3b

Llama 3.2 11B Vision

FAQ — running AI on the Apple M3 (8GB)

How many AI models can the Apple M3 (8GB) run?

What's the largest LLM I can run on a Apple M3 (8GB)?

Is 8.0GB of unified memory enough for local AI?

Best AI models for the
Apple M3 (8GB)