Memory sets what you can run locally, and price per token sets whether you should
A local model has one hard requirement before speed, quality or license enter the discussion: the weights have to fit in memory. That turns the machine question into arithmetic you can do on paper, and Apple's August 25 desktops give you three price points to do it against — $899 for a 32GB ceiling, $2,499 for 128GB, $5,499 for 512GB. This guide works through what fits where, which runner to use, what each size class is good for, and how many tokens it takes before a machine beats paying by the token.
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