Prefill and token generation speed
Qwen3.8 27B: is a Mac mini M4 Pro 48GB worth it?
Check the speed that matters when buying an M4 Pro 48GB for Qwen3.8 27B. Compare prefill and generation separately to decide whether your work benefits from moving beyond an M4 32GB.
Benchmark-based estimate · 4K input · one user
Last updated
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Expand settings Settings4-bit · 4K · Baseline decodeCollapse
Reading this result
Long code or document inputs repeatedly incur a wait before the first sentence. Looking only at tok/s after generation starts misses that part. Recheck with an input length close to your usual work.
- Required / available memory
- 17.6GB / 41GB
- Runtime
- MLX 4-bit
Compare this model side by side
If the M4 32GB already feels fast enough, the case for an upgrade weakens. Check the difference in completion time before comparing prices.
Check configuration
Mac mini M4 Pro 48GB · Memory 48GB
Qwen3.8 27B Q4_K_M configuration. Check that the retailer lists the same memory option.
What changes with a longer document?Expand input length, waiting time, speed and memory
Detailed analysis and all 61 hardware configurations
Popular configurations
Speed simulations by device and model
Qwen3.8 27B on Mac mini M4 32GB: response speed
5.1 ~ 5.7 tok/s · 16.4 ~ 35.5 s
Qwen3.8 27B on MacBook Pro M5 Pro 64GB
14.7 ~ 17.1 tok/s · 8.6 to 10.0 seconds
Qwen3.8 27B on Mac Studio M4 Max 128GB
27.9 ~ 60.4 tok/s · 5.8 to 10.5 seconds
Qwen3.8 27B on RTX 3090: do you need an upgrade?
42.3 ~ 46.9 tok/s · 4.4 to 7.5 seconds