Memory at each precision
| Version | Weights | With context | Smallest Mac |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-bit | 37.2 GB | 40.2 GB | 64 GB |
| 6-bit | 28.4 GB | 30.7 GB | 48 GB |
| 4-bit | 19.7 GB | 21.3 GB | 32 GB |
| 3-bit lower quality | 15.3 GB | 16.8 GB | 24 GB |
| 2-bit lower quality | 10.9 GB | 12.4 GB | 18 GB |
On every Apple chip
The smallest memory size of each chip that runs Sage-A1.5, the best version that fits it, and the writing speed you can expect.
| Chip | Needs | Version | Tokens/s |
|---|---|---|---|
| M6 | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 45–80 |
| M5 Ultra | 96 GB | 8-bit Runs well | 174–310 |
| M5 Max | 36 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 122–216 |
| M5 Pro | 48 GB | 6-bit Runs well | 58–102 |
| M5 | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 41–72 |
| M4 Max | 36 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 109–193 |
| M4 Pro | 48 GB | 6-bit Runs well | 51–91 |
| M4 | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 32–56 |
| M3 Ultra | 96 GB | 8-bit Runs well | 119–211 |
| M3 Max | 36 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 79–141 |
| M3 Pro | 36 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 40–71 |
| M3 | 24 GB | 3-bit Runs well | 35–62 |
| M2 Ultra | 64 GB | 8-bit Runs well | 116–206 |
| M2 Max | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 106–188 |
| M2 Pro | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 53–94 |
| M2 | 24 GB | 3-bit Runs well | 35–62 |
| M1 Ultra | 64 GB | 8-bit Runs well | 116–206 |
| M1 Max | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 106–188 |
| M1 Pro | 32 GB | 4-bit Runs well | 53–94 |
| M1 | 16 GB | 2-bit Only just | 34–60 |
How to run it
- The easy way: download MLX Harness, free and open source. Search for Sage-A1.5, download the version that fits your Mac, and chat. It also serves the model to your other apps over an OpenAI-compatible API.Download MLX HarnessFree · Apple Silicon · macOS 14.5 or later
- In Terminal with Apple’s MLX:
pip install mlx-lmmlx_lm.chat --model mlx-community/Sage-A1.5-OptiQ-4bitBuild: mlx-community/Sage-A1.5-OptiQ-4bit on Hugging Face. Other precisions sit next to it.
Step by step: download and run LLMs on a Mac · how to use MLX Harness · MLX vs Ollama vs llama.cpp
About Sage-A1.5
| Made by | Shanghai AI Laboratory (InternScience) |
|---|---|
| Parameters | 35B total · 2.95B active (mixture of experts) |
| Context | 256K tokens |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 |
| Released | 2026-10 |
| Input | Text and images |
| Weights | InternScience/Sage-A1.5 |
Questions
- How much memory does Sage-A1.5 need?
- About 19.7 GB of weights at 4-bit, plus room for the context: 21.3 GB in all. On a Mac that means 32 GB of unified memory or more, since macOS lets the GPU use about 75% of it by default.
- How fast is Sage-A1.5 on a Mac?
- Writing speed depends on memory bandwidth. The fastest Mac for it here is an M5 Ultra with 96 GB at about 174–310 tokens a second (8-bit). The smallest Mac that runs it, with 32 GB, manages about 106–188 on an M2 Max.
- Why does Sage-A1.5 run faster than its size suggests?
- It is a mixture-of-experts model: it holds 35B parameters in memory but reads only 2.95B for each token, so it writes at the speed of a much smaller model.
Similar models
For your model card or README
Shows the smallest Mac that runs Sage-A1.5 well and links here.
[](https://mlx.app/run/sage-a1.5)How it’s worked out
Memory: the model’s parameters at 8, 6, 4, 3 or 2 bits per weight plus MLX’s group scales (half a bit per weight), or its native format, with room for the context on top. By default macOS lets the GPU use about 75% of unified memory. Speed: memory bandwidth divided by the bytes read per token is the ceiling for one conversation; in llama.cpp’s public Apple Silicon benchmarks real runs reach about 45% to 80% of it, which is the range shown. These are estimates, not measurements: measure your own Mac on MLX Bench. Model figures from each official model card, chip figures from Apple’s Tech Specs. Checked 2026-10-19. Same data as mlx.app/compare.
Open data: mlx.app/data (JSON, CSV)