Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023, M2 Pro): which AI models can it run?

Estimated from the specifications below. Choose the memory size you have or plan to buy, then read the table for that size.

Specifications

Brand
Apple
Year
2023
Chip
Apple M2 Pro
Processor
10-core or 12-core CPU
Graphics
16-core or 19-core GPU
Memory type
unified memory
Memory options
16 GB, 32 GB
Memory bandwidth
200 GB/s

Sources: https://support.apple.com/en-us/111340

Apple lists 200GB/s for M2 Pro and 16GB base memory, with 32GB as the M2 Pro maximum. M2 Max versions are separate rows.

With 16 GB of memory

About 11.2 GB of it can hold a model.

ModelFitNeeds (GB)Writing speed (tokens per second)SpeedQualityBasis
Llama 3.2 3B
llama3.2:3b
Fits 5 40 to 75 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 4B
qwen3:4b · thinks first
Fits 6 32 to 60 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Gemma 3 4B
gemma3:4b
Fits 6.7 24 to 45 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Mistral 7B v0.3
mistral:7b
Fits 7.8 18 to 34 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Llama 3.1 8B
llama3.1:8b
Fits 8.3 16 to 31 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 8B
qwen3:8b · thinks first
Fits 8.9 15 to 29 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Gemma 3 12B
gemma3:12b
Won't fit 15.9 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
DeepSeek-R1 Distill Qwen 14B
deepseek-r1:14b
Won't fit 13.7 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Phi-4 14B
phi4:14b
Won't fit 13.9 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 14B
qwen3:14b
Won't fit 13.4 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
gpt-oss 20B
gpt-oss:20b
Won't fit 16.5 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Gemma 3 27B
gemma3:27b
Won't fit 27.2 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 30B (A3B)
qwen3:30b
Won't fit 22.6 not known n/a 9.3/10 Estimated
Qwen3 32B
qwen3:32b
Won't fit 26.3 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Llama 3.1 70B
llama3.1:70b
Won't fit 51.5 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
gpt-oss 120B
gpt-oss:120b
Won't fit 70.5 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated

Models marked "thinks first" can write out their reasoning before they answer, so a job takes longer than the speed alone suggests.

With 32 GB of memory

About 22.4 GB of it can hold a model.

ModelFitNeeds (GB)Writing speed (tokens per second)SpeedQualityBasis
Llama 3.2 3B
llama3.2:3b
Fits 5 40 to 75 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 4B
qwen3:4b · thinks first
Fits 6 32 to 60 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Gemma 3 4B
gemma3:4b
Fits 6.7 24 to 45 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Mistral 7B v0.3
mistral:7b
Fits 7.8 18 to 34 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Llama 3.1 8B
llama3.1:8b
Fits 8.3 16 to 31 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 8B
qwen3:8b · thinks first
Fits 8.9 15 to 29 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Gemma 3 12B
gemma3:12b
Fits 15.9 9.9 to 18 Unclear could be Moderate or Fast not measured yet Estimated
DeepSeek-R1 Distill Qwen 14B
deepseek-r1:14b · thinks first
Fits 13.7 8.9 to 17 Unclear could be Moderate or Fast not measured yet Estimated
Phi-4 14B
phi4:14b
Fits 13.9 8.8 to 16 Unclear could be Moderate or Fast not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 14B
qwen3:14b · thinks first
Fits 13.4 8.7 to 16 Unclear could be Moderate or Fast not measured yet Estimated
gpt-oss 20B
gpt-oss:20b · thinks first
Fits 16.5 20 to 37 Fast not measured yet Estimated
Gemma 3 27B
gemma3:27b
Won't fit 27.2 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Qwen3 30B (A3B)
qwen3:30b
Won't fit 22.6 not known n/a 9.3/10 Estimated
Qwen3 32B
qwen3:32b
Won't fit 26.3 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
Llama 3.1 70B
llama3.1:70b
Won't fit 51.5 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated
gpt-oss 120B
gpt-oss:120b
Won't fit 70.5 not known n/a not measured yet Estimated

Models marked "thinks first" can write out their reasoning before they answer, so a job takes longer than the speed alone suggests.

Reported by others

Other people ran the standard llama-bench test on this chip and published the results. They are not Findra scores. The test uses a small 7-billion-parameter model, so larger models will be slower than these figures. All published benchmarks.

SetupModel and sizeWriting speed (tokens per second)Reading speed (tokens per second)Source
16 graphics cores Llama 2 7B, Q8_0 22.7 288 llama.cpp discussion 4167
read 2026-10-10
16 graphics cores Llama 2 7B, Q4_0 37.9 294 llama.cpp discussion 4167
read 2026-10-10
19 graphics cores Llama 2 7B, Q8_0 23.0 344 llama.cpp discussion 4167
read 2026-10-10
19 graphics cores Llama 2 7B, Q4_0 38.9 341 llama.cpp discussion 4167
read 2026-10-10

Reported by others, not tested by us. Results come from a public community thread; builds and settings differ between submitters.

Rendering speed (Blender Open Data)

Blender Open Data publishes the median render score of the Cycles test for each chip, from results people submitted. Higher is faster. These are not Findra scores; the table says what each score was rendered on. Scores from different Blender versions are not directly comparable.

ChipRendered onScoreSource
Apple M2 Proprocessor, Blender 5.2.0191Blender Open Data
read 2026-10-22

Editing, gaming, CAD and other work

Each app below publishes a minimum and a recommended system requirement. We compare them with this laptop's memory and graphics memory. We do not judge the graphics chip's class, the processor generation or the operating system, because the makers describe those in words: check the source link for the exact card, processor and system they name. Many apps and games run only on Windows or only on macOS. Integrated graphics count as below any requirement for a dedicated card. Not known means the maker does not state this laptop's graphics memory.

App16 GB32 GB
Video editing
Adobe Premiere ProRecommendedRecommended
Adobe After EffectsRecommendedRecommended
Final Cut ProRecommendedRecommended
OBS StudioMinimumMinimum
Photo editing and design
Adobe PhotoshopRecommendedRecommended
Adobe Lightroom ClassicRecommendedRecommended
Adobe IllustratorRecommendedRecommended
3D, CAD and rendering
BlenderMinimumRecommended
Autodesk AutoCADMinimumRecommended
SOLIDWORKSMinimumRecommended
Autodesk FusionMinimumRecommended
Autodesk RevitMinimumMinimum
SketchUpMinimumMinimum
Autodesk MayaRecommendedRecommended
Maxon Cinema 4DRecommendedRecommended
RhinoRecommendedRecommended
KeyShot StudioRecommendedRecommended
Unreal Engine 5 editorBelow minimumRecommended
Unity editorMinimumMinimum
Gaming
Cyberpunk 2077RecommendedRecommended
Baldur's Gate 3RecommendedRecommended
Elden RingRecommendedRecommended
Black Myth: WukongRecommendedRecommended
StarfieldRecommendedRecommended
Hogwarts LegacyRecommendedRecommended
Counter-Strike 2MinimumMinimum
FortniteRecommendedRecommended
Call of Duty: WarzoneRecommendedRecommended
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024MinimumRecommended
Alan Wake 2RecommendedRecommended
Forza Horizon 5RecommendedRecommended
Red Dead Redemption 2RecommendedRecommended
Grand Theft Auto VRecommendedRecommended
Marvel RivalsRecommendedRecommended
Helldivers 2RecommendedRecommended
Hades IIRecommendedRecommended
Stardew ValleyMinimumMinimum
Minecraft Java EditionRecommendedRecommended
AI image and video generation
InvokeAI with SD 1.5 modelsMinimumMinimum
InvokeAI with SDXL modelsMinimumMinimum
InvokeAI with FLUX.1 modelsBelow minimumMinimum
Music and audio production
Ableton Live 12MinimumMinimum
FL StudioMinimumMinimum
Logic ProMinimumMinimum
Pro ToolsMinimumMinimum
Steinberg CubaseMinimumMinimum

Labels follow the makers' published lists. All use cases.

Speed is the speed of writing an answer, shown as a range. Reading speed is not estimated. How the estimates work · How close they are · Back to the finder