Hardware comparison
MacBook Pro / Mac mini M5 Pro (48GB) vs Mac Studio M5 Ultra (96GB) for local LLMs
How the two stack up for running open-source LLMs locally — memory, bandwidth, price, and how many of the 69 tracked models each one can run.
Scroll sideways to compare both machines. Keyboard: focus the table, then use the arrow keys. Metric names stay visible.
| Hardware | MacBook Pro / Mac mini M5 Pro (48GB) | Mac Studio M5 Ultra (96GB) |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 48.0 GB | 96.0 GB (better for this comparison) |
| Bandwidth | 307 GB/s | 1228 GB/s (better for this comparison) |
| Price (approx) | $2,299 (better for this comparison)Complete system | $5,499Complete system |
| LLMs it runs | 54 of 69 | 60 of 69 (better for this comparison) |
| Best model it runs | Gemma 4 31BQ3_K_M · estimated 12–18 tok/s | Gemma 4 31BQ8_0 · estimated 21–32 tok/s |
Both prices cover complete systems. Prices are approximate catalog estimates; check current configurations and prices before buying.
The recommended quants differ. These estimated speeds are not a like-for-like comparison. Estimates use 4,096 context tokens, llama.cpp and one stream.
The Mac Studio M5 Ultra (96GB) runs 6 more of the tracked models (60 vs 54), thanks to its 96.0 GB of memory. The Mac Studio M5 Ultra (96GB) has more memory bandwidth (1228 GB/s). Higher bandwidth can help generation speed, but model, quant, architecture and runtime also affect the estimates.