Bigcode Starcoder2 3B speed on Apple M4 Max and quantization-level VRAM fit.
Apple M4 Max meets the minimum VRAM requirement for Q4 inference of Bigcode Starcoder2 3B. Review the quantization breakdown below to see how higher precision settings impact VRAM and throughput.
Apple M4 Max can run Bigcode Starcoder2 3B with Q4 quantization. At approximately 88 tokens/second, you can expect Good speed - acceptable for interactive use.
You have 126GB headroom, which is sufficient for system overhead and smooth operation.
| Quantization | VRAM needed | VRAM available | Estimated speed | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 | 2GB | 128GB | 87.88 tok/s | ✅ Fits comfortably |
| Q8 | 3GB | 128GB | 61.52 tok/s | ✅ Fits comfortably |
| FP16 | 6GB | 128GB | 33.40 tok/s | ✅ Fits comfortably |
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Apple M4 Max can run Bigcode Starcoder2 3B at Q4 with an estimated 88 tok/s.
Q4 inference is estimated to need about 2GB VRAM on this page, while Apple M4 Max has 128GB available.
If you need more speed or context headroom, compare alternative GPUs below and check higher-tier VRAM options.