Best local AI models for the Mac Studio M5 Max 128 GB
128 GB of unified memory and 614 GB/s of bandwidth, for about $4,500. The most capable model that fits with 32K context is Qwen3.8 27B (capability 152), at about 27 tokens a second. 13 of 14 models fit.
Every model on the Mac Studio M5 Max 128 GB
Usual quantisation
| Model | Capability | 8K | 32K | 128K | Speed at 32K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.8 27BQ4_K_M, 20 GB at 32K | 152 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 27 tok/s |
| Qwen3.6 35B-A3BQ4_K_M, 23 GB at 32K | 144 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 111 tok/s |
| Gemma 4 31BQ4_K_M, 23 GB at 32K | 143 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 24 tok/s |
| Gemma 4 26B-A4BQ4_K_M, 18 GB at 32K | 142 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 99 tok/s |
| gpt-oss-120bMXFP4 (gpt-oss native), 66 GB at 32K | 140 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 92 tok/s |
| Qwen3.5 9BQ4_K_M, 7.6 GB at 32K | 139 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 72 tok/s |
| gpt-oss-20bMXFP4 (gpt-oss native), 13 GB at 32K | 138 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 119 tok/s |
| Llama 3.3 70BQ4_K_M, 55 GB at 32K | 127 | Fits | Fits | Fits | 9.7 tok/s |
| Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3BQ4_K_M, 20 GB at 32K | — | Fits | Fits | Fits | 143 tok/s |
| Mistral Small 4 119B-A6BQ4_K_M, 77 GB at 32K | — | Fits | Fits | Fits | 74 tok/s |
| Qwen3.5 122B-A10BQ4_K_M, 77 GB at 32K | — | Fits | Fits | Fits | 58 tok/s |
| Nemotron 3 Super 120B-A12BQ4_K_M, 76 GB at 32K | — | Fits | Fits | Fits | 56 tok/s |
| Muse Glimmer 30BQ4_K_M, 23 GB at 32K | — | Fits | Fits | Fits | 24 tok/s |
| Qwen3.5 397B-A17BQ4_K_M, 248 GB at 32K | 147 | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | Won’t fit | — |
Estimates from memory size and bandwidth, calibrated against published llama.cpp results. Capability: Epoch Capabilities Index by Epoch AI, CC BY 4.0, read 4 Nov 2026.
Similar-priced hardware
| Hardware | Memory | Bandwidth | Price (about) | Best model at 32K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac Studio M5 Max 128 GB | 128 GB | 614 GB/s | $4,500 | Qwen3.8 27B (152) |
| RTX 5090 | 32 GB | 1792 GB/s | $5,500 | Qwen3.8 27B (152) |
| RTX 4090 (used) | 24 GB | 1008 GB/s | $2,250 | Qwen3.8 27B (152) |
| Ryzen AI Max+ 395 128 GB | 128 GB | 256 GB/s | $3,300 | Qwen3.8 27B (152) |
| NVIDIA DGX Spark | 128 GB | 273 GB/s | $4,699 | Qwen3.8 27B (152) |
Questions
What is the best local LLM for the Mac Studio M5 Max 128 GB?
The highest-scoring model that fits with 32K tokens of context is Qwen3.8 27B (capability 152), at an estimated 27 tokens a second. For speed, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B runs at about 143 tokens a second.
How many models fit on the Mac Studio M5 Max 128 GB?
13 of the 14 models we track fit in its 128 GB with 32K context, and 13 with 8K. 13 fit with 128K tokens of context for long documents.
What does the Mac Studio M5 Max 128 GB cost to run?
At about 90 W under load and $0.25 per kWh, about $0.02 an hour of generation. Against the API price of Qwen3.8 27B, at 4M input and 1M output tokens a day it would pay for itself in about 132 months.