Will it run? / starCoder 2 15B / Mac mini M2 (16GB)

Can the Mac mini M2 (16GB) run starCoder 2 15B?

Too slow to enjoy Yes, at about 4.8 tokens/sec (estimated). It technically runs, but slowly enough to be frustrating. It only fits if you raise the GPU memory limit, and it'll be slower than usual.

4.8estimated tokens/sec
11.4 GBmemory needed
10.7 GBavailable to the model
100 GB/smemory bandwidth
ollama run starcoder2:15b

Check the Mac mini M2 (16GB) price →

How we got this number

Each generated token reads the whole model from memory once: 9.9 GB. The Mac mini M2 (16GB) moves 100 GB/s, so the ceiling is 10 tokens/sec. Real machines reach a fraction of that ceiling; we use 80%, calibrated against a measured Mac run. Send us your real numbers and we'll replace the estimate.

Faster machines for starCoder 2 15B

Mac Studio M5 Ultra (96GB)99 tok/s$5,499Check price →
Mac Studio M5 Ultra (256GB)99 tok/s$9,499Check price →
Mac Studio M5 Max (40-core GPU, 64GB)50 tok/s$3,799Check price →
Mac mini M5 Pro (24GB)25 tok/s$1,699Check price →

Other models on the Mac mini M2 (16GB)

lfm 2.5 8B (A1B)Fast65 tok/s
Llama 3.2 3BFast40 tok/s
orca mini 3BFast40 tok/s
Granite 3.1 moe 3BFast40 tok/s
falcon 3 3BFast40 tok/s
Granite 4.1 3BFast38 tok/s