image model · stable-diffusion · macOS
SD Can I run Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 on Apple M5 (16GB)?
Yes. Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 runs on Apple M5 (16GB) at fp16 (~7.5 GB of ~10.5 GB usable).
Runs at fp16 using ~7.5 GB of ~10.5 GB usable.
- Peak VRAM
- ~7.5 GB
- Usable on device
- ~10.5 GB
- Device memory
- 16 GB
- Quant
- fp16
How to run it
Use ComfyUI or AUTOMATIC1111 / Forge at fp16. It conditions on an image, not a text prompt; the pipeline offloads each stage off the GPU between passes, keeping peak VRAM near the active stage.
- Type
- image (UNET)
- Parameters
- 2.6B
- Peak VRAM
- ~7.5 GB at fp16
- Resolution
- 1024×1024
- License
- CreativeML OpenRAIL++-M
- Memory
- 16 GB unified
- Usable for weights
- ~10.5 GB
- Best runtime
- MLX direct / Ollama (MLX backend)
You could also run
Run Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 on other hardware
FAQ
Can Apple M5 (16GB) run Stable Diffusion XL 1.0?
Yes. Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 runs on Apple M5 (16GB) at fp16 (~7.5 GB of ~10.5 GB usable).
How much VRAM does Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 need?
Apple M5 (16GB) has room to spare. At fp16 the realistic peak is ~7.5 GB of VRAM, versus ~8.5 GB with every component kept resident (no offload). With aggressive CPU offload it drops to ~4 GB, much slower.
What do I use to run Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 locally?
Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 runs in ComfyUI or AUTOMATIC1111 / Forge (among others). It loads as a diffusion checkpoint plus its image encoder and VAE, not a single chat command.
Sources
VRAM figures are sourced peak-usage anchors at the noted quant, validated 2026-06-15. See methodology.