NVIDIA RTX 3090 vs Apple M3 Pro (36GB)
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 -84% more memory bandwidth, runs 47 models natively (vs 42), and exclusively fits 5 models the other cannot. Note: NVIDIA RTX 3090 uses CUDA while Apple M3 Pro (36GB) uses METAL — software ecosystem matters for your framework.
Specs comparison
| Spec | NVIDIA RTX 3090 | Apple M3 Pro (36GB) |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM | 24 GB | 36 GB unified |
| Memory type | GDDR6X | LPDDR5 |
| Bandwidth | 936 GB/s(+524%) | 150 GB/s |
| CPU cores | — | 12 (6P + 6E) |
| Architecture | Ampere | Apple M3 Pro |
| Backend | CUDA | METAL |
| Tier | Consumer | Laptop |
| Released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Models (native) | 42 | 47 |
Estimated tokens per second
Computed from memory bandwidth and model active-parameter weight. Assumes model fits natively in VRAM.
| Model | NVIDIA RTX 3090 | Apple M3 Pro (36GB) | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct(70B) | — | 7.1 t/s(Q2_K) | — |
| Qwen 3.6 27B(27B) | 55.5 t/s(Q5_K_M) | 7.4 t/s(Q6_K) | +650% |
| Llama 3.1 8B Instruct(8B) | 58.5 t/s(FP16) | 9.4 t/s(FP16) | +522% |
| Qwen 2.5 7B Instruct(7.6B) | 61.6 t/s(FP16) | 9.9 t/s(FP16) | +522% |
Delta is NVIDIA RTX 3090 relative to Apple M3 Pro (36GB).
Only NVIDIA RTX 3090 can run(0)
No exclusive models — Apple M3 Pro (36GB) can run everything NVIDIA RTX 3090 can.
Only Apple M3 Pro (36GB) can run(5)
Both run natively(42)
These models fit in VRAM on both GPUs. Bandwidth determines which runs them faster.
- Mixtral 8x7B Instruct v0.1199.5 t/svs25.6 t/s
- Qwen 3.5 35B-A3B (MoE)686.4 t/svs73.3 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 35B53.5 t/svs5.7 t/s
- Yi 1.5 34B Chat54.4 t/svs5.8 t/s
- Qwen3 32B57.1 t/svs6.1 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 32B Instruct57.6 t/svs6.2 t/s
- Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B Instruct57.6 t/svs6.2 t/s
- DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B57.6 t/svs6.2 t/s
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B686.4 t/svs73.3 t/s
- Gemma 4 31B60.4 t/svs6.5 t/s
- Qwen3 30B-A3B (MoE)549.1 t/svs73.3 t/s
- Gemma 2 27B Instruct55.1 t/svs7.4 t/s
- Gemma 3 27B Instruct55.5 t/svs5.6 t/s
- Qwen 3.6 27B55.5 t/svs7.4 t/s
- Gemma 4 26B (MoE)433.5 t/svs43.4 t/s
- Mistral Small 3.1 24B Instruct52 t/svs6.3 t/s
- +26 more on both
Which should you choose?
Choose NVIDIA RTX 3090 if:
- • Faster token generation is the priority
- • You rely on CUDA-based tools (PyTorch, vLLM, Ollama)
Choose Apple M3 Pro (36GB) if:
- • You need to run larger models (>24 GB VRAM)
- • You're on macOS and want native Metal acceleration (MLX, llama.cpp)
- • Unified memory matters (CPU/GPU share the same pool — no data copy overhead)
- • You want the newer architecture and longer driver support lifecycle
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better for local AI, the NVIDIA RTX 3090 or Apple M3 Pro (36GB)?
- 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 936 GB/s), letting it run 47 models natively in VRAM vs 42 for its rival.
- How much VRAM does the NVIDIA RTX 3090 have vs the Apple M3 Pro (36GB)?
- The NVIDIA RTX 3090 has 24 GB of GDDR6X at 936 GB/s. The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has 36 GB of LPDDR5 at 150 GB/s. The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has 12 GB more VRAM, allowing it to run 5 models the NVIDIA RTX 3090 cannot fit natively.
- Can the NVIDIA RTX 3090 run Llama 3.3 70B?
- The NVIDIA RTX 3090 can run Llama 3.3 70B with CPU offload at Q4_K_M, but at reduced speed.
- 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.
- What is the difference between the NVIDIA RTX 3090 and Apple M3 Pro (36GB) for AI?
- The key difference for AI inference is VRAM and memory bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX 3090 has 24 GB VRAM at 936 GB/s (CUDA backend). The Apple M3 Pro (36GB) has 36 GB VRAM at 150 GB/s (METAL backend). VRAM determines which models fit; bandwidth determines tokens per second. The NVIDIA RTX 3090 runs 42 models natively vs 47 for the Apple M3 Pro (36GB).