LocalFit

Apple M1 (8-core GPU), 8 GB: which models fit?

Apple Silicon Mac

Apple M1 (8-core GPU), 8 GB

Memory8 GB unifiedBandwidthUnknown not published in reviewed sourcesPlanned for models6.0 GiB 75% of unified memoryFilesMLX Apple MLX format

Editorial pick · 8 GB MacsQwen3.5-4B MLX 4-bit All picks

Context
Files

Budget = file + KV cache + 1 GiB runtime + 0.5 GiB spare. Macs: 75% of memory. Details

12 models fit M1 8c GPU · 8 GB · 8K context

Ranked by Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, unranked models last. Arena is shown separately. How ranking works

Intelligence

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · top 9 models that fit M1 8c GPU · 8 GB · higher is better

  1. Qwen3.5-4B13.1
  2. MiniCPM5-2B12.5
  3. G9v3-3B10.8
  4. Granite 4.2 3B9.1
  5. MiniCPM5-1B8.8
  6. Nanbeige4.1-3B8.4
  7. LFM2.5-2.6B8.4
  8. Falcon-H1R-7B7.8
  9. NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 4B4.8

AA estimate

Generation speed

Tokens per second on M1 8c GPU · 8 GB, best file for each of the same models · higher is better

No generation value for these models on M1 8c GPU · 8 GB: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.

WeightsKV cacheRuntimeFreeMeasuredlinks to its sourceEstimatedshown with ~Unknownnever zero
  1. 1

    Qwen3.5-4B

    Qwen/Qwen3.5-4B

    2026-03-024B dense

    AA index13.1 AA estimaterank #48
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 4-bit2.8 GiB fileFits · conditional
    4.1 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx · max ≈54K
    Prompt~174 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~24 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file2.83 GiBmlx-community/Qwen3.5-4B-4bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.25 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted4.08 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈54K tokens (native 256K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 8-bit 4.8 GiB · too big · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 13.1 AA estimate Qwen3.5 4B (Reasoning) · Arena unknown · Model page

  2. 2

    MiniCPM5-2B

    openbmb/MiniCPM5-2B

    2026-09-072.5B dense

    AA index12.5rank #51
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit2.5 GiB fileFits
    3.8 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx · max ≈49K
    Prompt~276 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~15 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file2.49 GiBmlx-community/MiniCPM5-2B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.33 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted3.82 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈49K tokens (native 128K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 1.3 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 12.5 MiniCPM5-2B · Arena unknown · Model page

  3. 3

    G9v3-3B

    AI9Stars/G9v3-3B

    2026-07 (day unknown)3B dense

    AA index10.8 AA estimaterank #58
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 4-bit1.6 GiB fileFits
    3.0 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx · max ≈58K
    Prompt~232 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~18 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file1.57 GiBcof139/G9v3-3B-mlx-4Bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.41 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted2.97 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈58K tokens (native 128K).

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 10.8 AA estimate G9v3-3B · Arena unknown · Model page

  4. 4

    Granite 4.2 3B

    ibm-granite/granite-4.2-3b

    2026-08-253B dense

    AA index9.1rank #64
    Arena1,293
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit3.6 GiB fileFits
    5.2 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx · max ≈11K
    Prompt~232 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~18 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file3.62 GiBlmstudio-community/granite-4.2-3b-MLX-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.63 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted5.25 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈11K tokens (native 128K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 1.9 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 9.1 Granite 4.2 3B · Arena 1,293 · Model page

  5. 5

    MiniCPM5-1B

    openbmb/MiniCPM5-1B

    2026-05-191.1B dense

    AA index8.8 AA estimaterank #67
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit1.1 GiB fileFits
    2.3 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx · max ≈128K
    Prompt~644 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~6.4 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file1.07 GiBmlx-community/MiniCPM5-1B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.19 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted2.26 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈128K tokens (native 128K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 0.6 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 8.8 AA estimate MiniCPM5-1B (Reasoning) · Arena unknown · Model page

  6. 6

    Nanbeige4.1-3B

    Nanbeige/Nanbeige4.1-3B

    2026-02 (day unknown)3B dense

    AA index8.4 AA estimaterank #69
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit3.9 GiB fileFits
    5.4 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx · max ≈10K
    Prompt~232 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~18 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file3.89 GiBmlx-community/Nanbeige4.1-3B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.50 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted5.39 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈10K tokens (native 256K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 2.1 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 8.4 AA estimate Nanbeige4.1-3B · Arena unknown · Model page

  7. 7

    LFM2.5-2.6B

    LiquidAI/LFM2.5-2.6B

    2026-08-042.7B dense

    AA index8.4 AA estimaterank #70
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit2.7 GiB fileFits · conditional
    3.8 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx · max ≈117K
    Prompt~259 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~16 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file2.67 GiBLiquidAI/LFM2.5-2.6B-MLX-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.13 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted3.79 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈117K tokens (native 128K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 1.5 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 8.4 AA estimate LFM2.5-2.6B · Arena unknown · Model page

  8. 8

    Falcon-H1R-7B

    tiiuae/Falcon-H1R-7B

    2026-01-057B dense

    AA index7.8 AA estimaterank #71
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 4-bit4.0 GiB fileFits · conditional
    5.3 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx · max ≈12K
    Prompt~99.4 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~41 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file3.98 GiBmlx-community/Falcon-H1R-7B-4bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.34 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted5.32 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈12K tokens (native 256K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 8-bit 7.5 GiB · too big · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 7.8 AA estimate Falcon-H1R-7B · Arena unknown · Model page

  9. 9

    NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 4B

    nvidia/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3-Nano-4B-BF16

    2026-03-164B dense

    AA index4.8rank #75
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit3.9 GiB fileFits · conditional
    5.1 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx · max ≈36K
    Prompt~175 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~23 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file3.93 GiBmlx-community/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3-Nano-4B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.13 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted5.06 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈36K tokens (native 256K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 2.1 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 4.8 NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 4B · Arena unknown · Model page

  10. 10

    K2-Horizon-0.9B

    IFM/K2-Horizon-0.9B

    2026-09-03size unknown

    AA index—unranked
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit1.1 GiB fileFits
    2.5 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx · max ≈63K
    Prompt—Unknown
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt—Unknown

    Memory budget

    Weights file1.07 GiBmlx-community/K2-Horizon-0.9B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.44 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted2.50 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈63K tokens (native 128K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 0.8 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt unknown: no measured report, and no comparable vendor FP16 figure or device calibration.
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token unknown: needs a prefill value.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA index unknown · Arena unknown · Model page

  11. 11

    Qwen3.5-0.8B

    Qwen/Qwen3.5-0.8B

    2026-03-020.8B dense

    AA index—unranked
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit0.9 GiB fileFits · conditional
    2.0 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx · max ≈256K
    Prompt~870 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~4.7 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file0.93 GiBmlx-community/Qwen3.5-0.8B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.09 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted2.03 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈256K tokens (native 256K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 0.6 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA index unknown · Arena unknown · Model page

  12. 12

    Qwen3.5-2B

    Qwen/Qwen3.5-2B

    2026-03-022B dense

    AA index—unranked
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 8-bit2.5 GiB fileFits · conditional
    3.6 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx · max ≈172K
    Prompt~348 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~12 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file2.48 GiBmlx-community/Qwen3.5-2B-8bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K0.09 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted3.57 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈172K tokens (native 256K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 4-bit 1.6 GiB · fits · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA index unknown · Arena unknown · Model page

May fit: KV-cache size unknown 2

Weights and runtime fit, but the cache for this attention type is not established. Ranked by AA index.

  1. Ling-3.0-tiny

    inclusionAI/Ling-3.0-tiny

    2026-08 (day unknown)7.9B · 1.3B active

    AA index11.1rank #57
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 4-bit4.1 GiB fileCache unknown
    5.1 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx
    Prompt~330 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~12 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file4.14 GiBrapid-mlx/Ling-3.0-tiny-MLX-4bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K—Unknown
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted5.14 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: unknown (native 128K).

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 20 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • KV-cache size could not be established from the config (compressed or backend-specific attention).
    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 11.1 Ling 3.0 Tiny · Arena unknown · Model page

  2. Gemma 4 E2B

    google/gemma-4-E2B-it

    2026-04-025.1B dense

    AA index7.8 AA estimaterank #72
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 4-bit3.3 GiB fileCache unknown
    4.3 of 6.0 GiB+8K ctx
    Prompt~136 t/sEstimated
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt~30 sEstimated

    Memory budget

    Weights file3.31 GiBmlx-community/gemma-4-E2B-it-4bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K—Unknown
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Recurrent state—Unknown
    Accounted4.31 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: unknown (native 128K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 8-bit 5.5 GiB · too big · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt estimated from median prefill rate per GPU core of 9 measured M1 points (MLX) × this chip's GPU cores ÷ (2 × active params).
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token 4K-token prompt ÷ estimated prefill speed. Excludes model load and queueing.

    Caveats

    • KV-cache size could not be established from the config (compressed or backend-specific attention).
    • Fixed recurrent/convolution state is unknown and not included.
    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 7.8 AA estimate Gemma 4 E2B (Reasoning) · Arena unknown · Model page

Tight: only below 8K context 1

  1. K2-Horizon-3.7B

    IFM/K2-Horizon-3.7B

    2026-09-03size unknown

    AA index15.6rank #41
    Arena—
    Best file & memory
    MLX 4-bit3.9 GiB fileTight
    6.0 of 6.0 GiB8K ctx
    Prompt—Unknown
    Generate—Unknown
    First token · 4K prompt—Unknown

    Memory budget

    Weights file3.85 GiBmlx-community/K2-Horizon-3.7B-4bit HF files
    KV cache · 8K1.13 GiBFP16 cache from config.json Estimated
    Runtime allowance1.00 GiBplanning assumption Estimated
    Accounted5.98 GiBof 6.0 GiB usable (75% of 8 GB) · 0.5 GiB spare margin required

    Max context in free memory: ≈5K tokens (native 512K).

    Other MLX files

    • MLX 8-bit 5.0 GiB · too big · files

    Where the speeds come from

    • Prompt unknown: no measured report, and no comparable vendor FP16 figure or device calibration.
    • Generate unknown: no measured report, and bandwidth, active size or backend calibration is missing.
    • First token unknown: needs a prefill value.

    Caveats

    • Text-only budget. A downloadable file does not prove your runtime supports this architecture.

    AA 15.6 K2 Horizon 3.7B · Arena unknown · Model page

56 models too big for M1 8c GPU · 8 GB

Specs & sources

Memory8 GB unifiedsource
BandwidthunknownApple M1 technical specifications do not publish absolute memory bandwidth. Later relative comparisons are not an exact specification.
FP16unknownApple publishes no comparable FP16 throughput or GPU-only TDP in reviewed chip/device technical specifications. Power adapter rating and whole-system maximum continuous power are not GPU TDP.
PowerunknownApple publishes no comparable FP16 throughput or GPU-only TDP in reviewed chip/device technical specifications. Power adapter rating and whole-system maximum continuous power are not GPU TDP.

Found in: MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

Measured speeds

6 reported observations

On this device (same chip and GPU-core count). Reported by the linked sources; not reproduced by LocalFit.

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