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Can a M1 8GB run Bonsai 2 2B (ternary)?

Yes. Bonsai 2 2B (ternary) fits in fast memory on M1 8GB at Q2_0 (2 GB needed, 5.4 GB usable), about 60 tok/s (estimate).

Hardware: M1 8GB · Model: Bonsai 2 2B (ternary)

M1 8GB has 8 GB of unified memory and 68 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The checker leaves macOS a share of unified memory, so Ollama can use 5.4 GB. Bonsai 2 2B (ternary) (2B, Prism ML) at Q2_0 is a 0.91 GB download and needs 2 GB with headroom for about 8k tokens.

Best quantQ2_0
Download size0.91 GB
Memory needed2 GB
Usable fast memory5.4 GB
Fitfits in fast memory
Estimated speed~60 tok/s (estimate)
Commandollama run bonsai-2:2b
Open M1 8GB in the checker

Estimates, not benchmarks. Model sizes are ollama.com download sizes; memory needed adds headroom for ~8k tokens of context; speeds are rough figures from memory bandwidth. Data updated 2026-10-23.

A project by OnDevice Labs · llms.txt