Can a Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB run Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct?
Yes. Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct needs 2.29GB at Q8_0 with llama.cpp and 8K context; the Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB has 36GB of unified memory (~75% GPU-addressable) (26.5GB usable) — grade A+, with decode speed in the interactive tier.
Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB · Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct · Q8_0
✅ Fits — grade A+
Interactive
weights 1.65 GBKV cache 0.23 GBoverhead 0.40 GBpool 26.5 GBneeds 2.29 GB
assumes llama.cpp · batch 1 · 8K context · fp16 KV cache
$2,499 MSRP · as of 2026-07-11
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Every quant, graded
Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB × Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct, llama.cpp, 8K context.
| Quant | File size | Fit | Speed tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q8_0 | 1.6 GB | Fits · A+ | interactive |
| Q6_K | 1.3 GB | Fits · A+ | interactive |
| Q5_K_M | 1.1 GB | Fits · A+ | interactive |
| Q4_K_M | 1.0 GB | Fits · A+ | interactive |
Qwen2.5-1.5B-Instruct on similar hardware
More models on the Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB
Verdict computed from published specs and measured GGUF file sizes — see how the math works.