Language Model8B

Run Llama 3.1 8B on Mac Mini M4

Step-by-step guide to running Llama 3.1 8B locally on the Apple Mac Mini M4 using Ollama — no GPU required.

Speed

28–35 tok/s

Min Memory

8 GB

Software

Ollama, macOS 14+

Hardware Used in This Guide

Apple Mac Mini (M4, 2024)
Apple Mac Mini (M4, 2024)

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Step-by-Step Setup

  1. 01

    Install Ollama

    Download Ollama from the official site and run the macOS installer. It installs a background service that handles model downloads and inference.

    # Verify install
ollama --version
  2. 02

    Pull Llama 3.1 8B

    The 8B model fits comfortably in the M4's 16 GB unified memory. The download is about 4.7 GB.

    ollama pull llama3.1:8b
  3. 03

    Run a test prompt

    Start an interactive session and test the model. You should see the first token within 1–2 seconds.

    ollama run llama3.1:8b "Explain VRAM in one paragraph"
  4. 04

    Serve via REST API (optional)

    Ollama exposes an OpenAI-compatible API on port 11434, so any app that supports custom endpoints (Open WebUI, Chatbox, etc.) works out of the box.

    # Start server (already running after install)
curl http://localhost:11434/api/generate \
  -d '{"model":"llama3.1:8b","prompt":"Hello"}'
  5. 05

    Install Open WebUI for a chat interface

    For a browser-based ChatGPT-style interface, run Open WebUI via Docker. It auto-discovers your local Ollama instance.

    docker run -d \
  -p 3000:8080 \
  --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway \
  -e OLLAMA_BASE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:11434 \
  ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main

Optimization Tips

  • ›

    The M4's 16 GB unified memory can hold Llama 3.1 8B and the OS simultaneously — you rarely need to evict the model.

  • ›

    For faster responses, close memory-heavy apps (browsers, creative tools) before a long inference session.

  • ›

    Llama 3.1 8B Q4_K_M quantization (Ollama's default) gives near-full quality at 4× lower memory than FP16.

  • ›

    The M4 Neural Engine offloads some compute — Ollama uses Metal, not the Neural Engine, for better compatibility.

Other Hardware for Llama 3.1 8B

Apple Mac Mini (M4 Pro, 2024)
Apple Mac Mini (M4 Pro, 2024)
Apple Mac Mini (M4 Pro, 2024)

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Related Guides

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Complete guide to running Llama 3.3 70B (Q4) locally on the Mac Mini M4 Pro with 24 GB unified memory using Ollama.

Run Stable Diffusion on Mac Mini M4→

How to run SDXL and FLUX on the Mac Mini M4 using Diffusers or ComfyUI — with expected generation times and optimization tips.

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