Mac mini M4 32GB vs Mac Studio M3 Ultra 512GB

For running models locally, priced in the US. At 32k context the first runs 24 models fully in memory, the second 42.

Specifications

SpecMac mini M4 32GBMac Studio M3 Ultra 512GB
ChipApple M4 (10-core GPU)Apple M3 Ultra (80-core GPU)
Memory bus128-bit1024-bit
Memory bandwidth120 GB/s819 GB/s
FP16 compute3.76 TFLOPS28 TFLOPS
SoftwareMetalMetal
Unified memory32 GB512 GB
GPU can use by default21.3 GB384 GB
GPU can use, tuned24 GB504 GB
Operating systemmacosmacos
ProcessorM4 10-coreM3 Ultra 32-core
Storage512 GB2000 GB

What each runs

Estimated decode speed with the most precise quant that fits each one est.

ModelMac mini M4 32GBMac Studio M3 Ultra 512GB
DeepSeek V4 Flashwon't run23tok/sUD-Q4_K_XL
GLM 5.3 Flashwon't run12tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.8 Flash Nextwon't run5tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.8 27B4tok/sUD-Q4_K_M17tok/sQ8_0
MiniMax M2.7won't run16tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 122B-A10Bwon't run28tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.6 27B4tok/sQ5_K_M17tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 31B4tok/sQ4_K_M15tok/sQ8_0
Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12Bwon't run25tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 Coder Nextwon't run64tok/sQ8_0
gpt-oss 120Bwon't run74tok/sMXFP4
Mistral Small 4 119Bwon't run39tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 27B4tok/sQ5_K_M17tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.6 35B-A3Bwon't run84tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 26B-A4B13tok/sUD-Q4_K_M63tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.5 Airwon't run13tok/sQ8_0
GLM 4.7 Flash10tok/sQ4_K_M45tok/sQ8_0
Devstral Small 2 24B4tok/sQ4_K_M18tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 35B-A3Bwon't run84tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 Next 80B-A3Bwon't run80tok/sQ8_0
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3Bwon't run89tok/sUD-Q6_K_XL
gpt-oss 20B15tok/sMXFP499tok/sMXFP4
Qwen3 Coder 30B-A3B9tok/sQ4_K_M50tok/sQ8_0
Kimi Linear 48B-A3Bwon't run91tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 32Bwon't run12tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 12B6tok/sQ8_039tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 9B7tok/sQ8_050tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 3 27B4tok/sQ4_K_M17tok/sQ8_0
Mistral Small 3.2 24B4tok/sQ4_K_M18tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bwon't run12tok/sQ8_0
Llama 3.3 70Bwon't run6tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 14B4tok/sQ8_027tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 14B4tok/sQ8_025tok/sQ8_0
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B6tok/sQ8_039tok/sQ8_0
Qwen3 8B6tok/sQ8_039tok/sQ8_0
Phi-4 14B4tok/sQ6_K24tok/sQ8_0
Qwen 3.5 4B14tok/sQ8_095tok/sQ8_0
Ministral 3 8B6tok/sQ8_039tok/sQ8_0
Granite 4.2 8B5tok/sQ8_036tok/sQ8_0
Gemma 4 E4B9tok/sQ8_058tok/sQ8_0
LFM2.5 8B-A1B18tok/sQ8_0119tok/sQ8_0
Llama 3.1 8B7tok/sQ6_K49tok/sQ6_K