Apple M3 Pro (36GB) vs Apple M4 Pro (24GB)
Side-by-side local AI comparison — VRAM, memory bandwidth, model compatibility, and estimated tokens per second across 70 open-weight models.
Quick verdict
Apple M3 Pro (36GB) wins for local AI inference. It has 12 GB more VRAM and -45% more memory bandwidth, runs 47 models natively (vs 42), and exclusively fits 5 models the other cannot.
Specs comparison
| Spec | Apple M3 Pro (36GB) | Apple M4 Pro (24GB) |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 36 GB unified | 24 GB unified |
| Memory type | LPDDR5 | LPDDR5X |
| Bandwidth | 150 GB/s | 273 GB/s(+82%) |
| CPU cores | 12 (6P + 6E) | 14 (10P + 4E) |
| Architecture | Apple M3 Pro | Apple M4 Pro |
| Backend | METAL | METAL |
| Tier | Laptop | Laptop |
| Released | 2023 | 2024 |
| Models (native) | 47 | 42 |
Estimated tokens per second
Computed from memory bandwidth and model active-parameter weight. Assumes model fits natively in VRAM.
| Model | Apple M3 Pro (36GB) | Apple M4 Pro (24GB) | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct(70B) | 7.1 t/s(Q2_K) | — | — |
| Qwen 3.6 27B(27B) | 7.4 t/s(Q6_K) | 20.2 t/s(Q4_K_M) | -63% |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct(8B) | 9.4 t/s(FP16) | 17.1 t/s(FP16) | -45% |
| Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct(7.6B) | 9.9 t/s(FP16) | 18 t/s(FP16) | -45% |
Delta is Apple M3 Pro (36GB) relative to Apple M4 Pro (24GB).
Only Apple M3 Pro (36GB) can run(5)
Only Apple M4 Pro (24GB) can run(0)
No exclusive models — Apple M3 Pro (36GB) can run everything Apple M4 Pro (24GB) can.
Both run natively(42)
These models fit in VRAM on both GPUs. Bandwidth determines which runs them faster.
- Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.125.6 t/svs77.6 t/s
- Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B (MoE)73.3 t/svs250.3 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 35B5.7 t/svs19.5 t/s
- Yi 1.5 34B Chat5.8 t/svs19.8 t/s
- Qwen3 32B6.1 t/svs16.6 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 32B Instruct6.2 t/svs21 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B Instruct6.2 t/svs21 t/s
- DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B6.2 t/svs21 t/s
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B73.3 t/svs200.2 t/s
- Gemma 4 31B6.5 t/svs22 t/s
- Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE)73.3 t/svs200.2 t/s
- Gemma 2 27B Instruct7.4 t/svs20.1 t/s
- Gemma 3 27B Instruct5.6 t/svs20.2 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 27B7.4 t/svs20.2 t/s
- Gemma 4 26B (MoE)43.4 t/svs126.4 t/s
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct6.3 t/svs18.2 t/s
- +26 more on both
Which should you choose?
Choose Apple M3 Pro (36GB) if:
- • You need to run larger models (>24 GB VRAM)
Choose Apple M4 Pro (24GB) if:
- • Faster token generation is the priority
- • You want the newer architecture and longer driver support lifecycle
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better for local AI, the Apple M3 Pro (36GB) or Apple M4 Pro (24GB)?
- For local AI inference, the Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has the edge. It offers 36 GB VRAM (vs 24 GB) and 150 GB/s bandwidth (vs 273 GB/s), letting it run 47 models natively in VRAM vs 42 for its rival.
- How much VRAM does the Apple M3 Pro (36GB) have vs the Apple M4 Pro (24GB)?
- The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has 36 GB of LPDDR5 at 150 GB/s. The Apple M4 Pro (24GB) has 24 GB of LPDDR5X at 273 GB/s. The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has 12 GB more VRAM, allowing it to run 5 models the Apple M4 Pro (24GB) cannot fit natively.
- Can the Apple M3 Pro (36GB) run Llama 3.3 70B?
- Yes. The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) runs Llama 3.3 70B natively at Q2_K quantization at approximately 7.1 tokens per second.
- Can the Apple M4 Pro (24GB) run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The Apple M4 Pro (24GB) does not have enough VRAM to run Llama 3.3 70B.
- What is the difference between the Apple M3 Pro (36GB) and Apple M4 Pro (24GB) for AI?
- The key difference for AI inference is VRAM and memory bandwidth. The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has 36 GB VRAM at 150 GB/s (METAL backend). The Apple M4 Pro (24GB) has 24 GB VRAM at 273 GB/s (METAL backend). VRAM determines which models fit; bandwidth determines tokens per second. The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) runs 47 models natively vs 42 for the Apple M4 Pro (24GB).