Apple M2 Ultra

The Apple M2 Ultra ships in 64–192 GB unified-memory configurations at 800 GB/s. Across those configurations it runs 82 of our 99 tracked models natively in VRAM at 8k context.

More memory means more of our tracked models fit natively; see which configuration you need below.

Jump to:192 GB64 GB
ConfigurationBandwidthCPU coresNative models+ Offload
192 GB800 GB/s24 (16P + 8E)82 / 990
64 GB800 GB/s24 (16P + 8E)63 / 990
Vendor: Apple
Memory type: LPDDR5
Compute backend: METAL
Software: MLX gives the best performance on Apple Silicon; llama.cpp Metal backend is a solid alternative. Both are well-supported by Ollama.

How much of the Apple M2 Ultra's memory is actually usable?

macOS and background apps need a slice of the pool before a model gets to use it: this site reserves 8GB on every unified-memory GPU, the same baseline used everywhere else on this site. What's left is real headroom for a model's weights and KV cache:

macOS + background apps (8 GB reserved)usable for model weights + KV cacheVertical lines mark roughly where a 7B/14B/32B/... dense model at Q4_K_M lands.

Apple M2 Ultra (192GB)

With 192 GB LPDDR5 at 800 GB/s, this configuration runs 82 models natively. 184 GB of real headroom after this site's standard 8 GB reservation clears every dense model this site tracks up to 72B at full BF16 precision: Llama 3.3 70B and Qwen2.5 72B both fit at BF16 (159.8 GB and 164.3 GB) instead of being squeezed into Q4, at roughly 4.4-4.5 tok/s. It's also the only real M2 Ultra configuration that reaches 405B-parameter territory: Llama 3.1 405B fits at Q2_K (177.6 GB, ~4 tok/s), a capability the 64GB base configuration doesn't have at any quantization. Mixture-of-experts models are where the extra memory pays off most: Qwen3 235B-A22B fits at Q4_K_M (162.1 GB) around 13.8 tok/s, and GPT-OSS 120B reaches Q8_0 (139.6 GB) at roughly 34.8 tok/s. 82 of the 99 tracked models fit natively.

Apple M2 Ultra (192GB): the maximum-memory configuration of Apple's second Ultra-tier chip, two M2 Max dies fused with Apple's UltraFusion interposer, a high-speed silicon bridge that lets the pair act as one chip, launched June 2023 in the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. 192GB is the real ceiling for this chip: Apple never released the 384GB "M2 Extreme" that pre-launch leaks predicted, so 192GB, not 384GB, is the most memory any Mac has ever shipped with an M2-generation chip.

184 GB of real headroom after this site's standard 8 GB reservation clears every dense model this site tracks up to 72B at full BF16 precision: Llama 3.3 70B and Qwen2.5 72B both fit at BF16 (159.8 GB and 164.3 GB) instead of being squeezed into Q4, at roughly 4.4-4.5 tok/s. It's also the only real M2 Ultra configuration that reaches 405B-parameter territory: Llama 3.1 405B fits at Q2_K (177.6 GB, ~4 tok/s), a capability the 64GB base configuration doesn't have at any quantization. Mixture-of-experts models are where the extra memory pays off most: Qwen3 235B-A22B fits at Q4_K_M (162.1 GB) around 13.8 tok/s, and GPT-OSS 120B reaches Q8_0 (139.6 GB) at roughly 34.8 tok/s. 82 of the 99 tracked models fit natively.

Full MLX and llama.cpp Metal support. Community llama.cpp benchmarks on 76-core-GPU M2 Ultra report roughly 88-94 tok/s decode on a 7B model at Q4_0, and 1,100-1,400 tok/s prompt processing at F16 (ggml-org/llama.cpp Discussion #4167), figures set by GPU core count and 800 GB/s bandwidth, independent of which real memory configuration (64GB or 192GB) is installed.

Models the 192 GB configuration runs natively (82)

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Apple M2 Ultra (64GB)

With 64 GB LPDDR5 at 800 GB/s, this configuration runs 63 models natively. 56 GB of real headroom after the standard 8 GB reservation, identical capacity to the M2 Max 64GB configuration, so the same 63 of 99 tracked models fit natively, including Llama 3.3 70B and Qwen2.5 72B at Q4_K_M. What changes is speed, not capacity: this site's calculator projects roughly 14.1 tok/s for Llama 3.3 70B here, almost exactly double the M2 Max 64GB's 7.1 tok/s, because doubling bandwidth (800 vs 400 GB/s) doubles decode throughput on a workload this bandwidth-bound without changing what fits.

Apple M2 Ultra (64GB): the base memory configuration of Apple's second Ultra-tier chip, the entry point into the Mac Studio and Mac Pro's Ultra lineup starting at $3,999 in June 2023. It shares the 192GB configuration's full 800 GB/s of unified memory bandwidth and 24-core CPU (16P+8E); Apple doesn't cut bandwidth for the smaller memory build on this chip, unlike the bandwidth-binned 96GB M3 Max a generation later.

56 GB of real headroom after the standard 8 GB reservation, identical capacity to the M2 Max 64GB configuration, so the same 63 of 99 tracked models fit natively, including Llama 3.3 70B and Qwen2.5 72B at Q4_K_M. What changes is speed, not capacity: this site's calculator projects roughly 14.1 tok/s for Llama 3.3 70B here, almost exactly double the M2 Max 64GB's 7.1 tok/s, because doubling bandwidth (800 vs 400 GB/s) doubles decode throughput on a workload this bandwidth-bound without changing what fits.

Same MLX and llama.cpp Metal maturity as the 192GB sibling. The Ultra tier's advantage over a same-capacity Max configuration is decode speed, not new capability; choosing this over an M2 Max 64GB buys roughly 2x tokens/sec on models that already fit both, not the ability to run anything new.

Models the 64 GB configuration runs natively (63)

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Too large for any Apple M2 Ultra configuration (17)

Compare Apple M2 Ultra with other GPUs

Frequently asked questions

How much memory does the Apple M2 Ultra have?
The Apple M2 Ultra ships in 2 unified-memory configurations: 192 GB and 64 GB, all at 800 GB/s.
Should I get the 64 GB or 192 GB Apple M2 Ultra?
Both run everything that fits natively in 64 GB. The extra memory in the 192 GB configuration additionally fits MiniMax M3, Llama 3.1 405B Instruct, Llama 4 Maverick 400B, and 16 more models natively in VRAM, worth the upgrade if you plan to run any of those.
How much VRAM does the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) have?
The Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) has 192 GB of LPDDR5 with 800 GB/s memory bandwidth (unified system memory, shared between CPU and GPU).
What is the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) best for?
With 192 GB of unified memory, the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) is a high-capacity workstation platform capable of running the largest open-weight models (70B–405B) at high quantization with ample context.
What LLMs can the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) run locally?
The Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) can run 82 of the 99 open-weight models tracked by CanItRun natively in VRAM at 8k context. Top options include: Ornith 1.5 397B (MoE) at Q2_K, Qwen3.8-Flash-Next at Q6_K, GLM-5.3-Flash 320B at Q3_K_M.
Can the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) run Gemma 4 31B?
Yes. The Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) runs Gemma 4 31B natively in VRAM at BF16 quantization, achieving approximately 10.2 tokens per second.
Show 8 more questions
Can the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) run Qwen 3.6 27B?
Yes. The Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) runs Qwen 3.6 27B natively in VRAM at BF16 quantization, achieving approximately 11.7 tokens per second.
Can the Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) run Qwen3 8B?
Yes. The Apple M2 Ultra (192GB) runs Qwen3 8B natively in VRAM at BF16 quantization, achieving approximately 37.2 tokens per second.
How much VRAM does the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) have?
The Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) has 64 GB of LPDDR5 with 800 GB/s memory bandwidth (unified system memory, shared between CPU and GPU).
What is the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) best for?
With 64 GB of VRAM, the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) is ideal for running 70B-class models at Q4 quantization and large MoE models, a workstation sweet spot for local inference.
What LLMs can the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) run locally?
The Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) can run 63 of the 99 open-weight models tracked by CanItRun natively in VRAM at 8k context. Top options include: Qwen 3.8 27B at Q8_0, Ornith 1.5 35B-A3B (MoE) at Q8_0, Qwen 3.5 122B-A10B (MoE) at Q2_K.
Can the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) run Gemma 4 31B?
Yes. The Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) runs Gemma 4 31B natively in VRAM at Q8_0 quantization, achieving approximately 18.7 tokens per second.
Can the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) run Qwen 3.6 27B?
Yes. The Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) runs Qwen 3.6 27B natively in VRAM at Q8_0 quantization, achieving approximately 21.9 tokens per second.
Can the Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) run Qwen3 8B?
Yes. The Apple M2 Ultra (64GB) runs Qwen3 8B natively in VRAM at BF16 quantization, achieving approximately 37.2 tokens per second.