Operating System
macOS Self-Hosting
Apple Silicon native inference with MLX, llama.cpp Metal backends, and local agent tools.
macOSApple SiliconMLXMetalself-hosting
Recommended approach
- Install Xcode Command Line Tools
- Use Homebrew to install Python, Ollama, and MLX tools
- Prefer MLX or llama.cpp with Metal for best Apple Silicon utilization
Minimal configuration
- Device: Mac mini M2 16 GB
- OS: macOS Sonoma
- Use case: 3B–7B models, local experimentation
Recommended configuration
- Device: Mac Studio M2 Max 64 GB
- OS: macOS Sonoma or later
- Use case: 7B–13B models, MLX LoRA fine-tuning
Premium configuration
- Device: Mac Studio M2 Ultra 192 GB
- OS: macOS Sonoma or later
- Use case: 30B–70B MLX models, production local serving
Notes
macOS is not suitable for NVIDIA GPUs. Choose macOS when unified memory and MLX-optimized workflows matter most.