text model · DeepSeek-R1-Distill · macOS
Can I run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B on Apple M3 Ultra (256GB)?
Yes. DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B runs on Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) at Q4_K_M (~22.1 GB of ~192 GB usable).
Runs at Q4_K_M using ~22.1 GB of ~192 GB usable. You have room for FP16 for higher quality.
- Q4_K_M needed
- ~22.1 GB
- Usable on device
- ~192 GB
- Device memory
- 256 GB
- Best quant
- Q4_K_M
Run it
Pick your tool. All three load the same Q4_K_M weights.
ollama run deepseek-r1:32b llama-cli -hf bartowski/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-32B-GGUF:Q4_K_M lms get bartowski/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-32B-GGUF vLLM is NOT a Mac tool, it is a CUDA/Linux serving engine. Unified memory is not a fixed VRAM slice; ~70% is usable for weights.
- Parameters
- 32B
- Q4_K_M size
- 19.85 GB
- Q8_0 size
- 34.82 GB
- Context
- 128k
- Ollama tag
- deepseek-r1:32b
- Memory
- 256 GB unified
- Usable for weights
- ~192 GB
- Best runtime
- MLX direct / Ollama (MLX backend)
You could also run
Run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B on other hardware
FAQ
Can Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B?
Yes. DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B runs on Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) at Q4_K_M (~22.1 GB of ~192 GB usable).
How much memory does DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B need?
Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) has room to spare. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~19.85 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~22.1 GB at a 4k context.
What is the best tool to run DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen 32B on macOS?
LM Studio for a simple setup; mlx-lm for the most speed. vLLM is NOT a Mac tool, it is a CUDA/Linux serving engine. Unified memory is not a fixed VRAM slice; ~70% is usable for weights.
Sources
Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.