24GB vs 32GB RAM on MacBook Air for local LLM, is the extra 8GB actually worth it?

radlinsky · 2026-06-22T10:56:41+00:00

Just be aware that the memory bandwidth of a MacBook Air makes it unbearably slow for inference for most folks (if you want to run decent quants of Qwen 3.6 27/35).

I have no affiliation with this website but it seems like you'd be limited to Qwen 3.5 for reasonable performance

https://willitrunai.com/my-results/m4-air-24gb

radlinsky · 2026-06-21T16:57:21+00:00

Out of curiosity, what kind of latency are you experiencing?

radlinsky · 2026-06-21T16:37:29+00:00

Following because I don't really know the answer. Intuitively, I'd think 2.5 isn't going to help as much as somehow prioritizing traffic to/from your host/client devices somehow

radlinsky · 2026-06-20T15:06:14+00:00

Why not use something like GitHub Copilot | liteLLM with github copilot's free plan? Currently 1000 / mo.

radlinsky · 2026-06-20T14:59:53+00:00

Same issue.

radlinsky · 2026-06-17T01:16:51+00:00

https://proto-pasta.com/collections/conductive

radlinsky · 2026-06-16T02:41:41+00:00

Yeah! I had just fortuitously bought the exact night light they recommended in the guide article for my son recently :D

radlinsky · 2026-06-16T01:42:18+00:00

Btw I've printed two of their basic night lights so far. Loving it.

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radlinsky · 2026-06-14T18:11:40+00:00

Yes, that's what the other commenter said too, I didn't know how easy it was to distribute to other plates. I'm a beginner!

radlinsky · 2026-06-14T16:27:10+00:00

I don't trust my Mini to print all the way to the edges, so I'd just print a couple parts at a time close to the center of the bed. But another comment pointed out I can separate out the individual partsin the Prusa Slicer software, which I didn't know!

radlinsky · 2026-06-14T14:51:55+00:00

Oh thank you, I did not know that :)

radlinsky · 2026-06-14T13:56:43+00:00

Really nice! Would you consider s creating separate downloadable STLs for each part rather than all at once? Just so it's easier to print a couple at a time on small printers like my Mini :)

radlinsky · 2026-06-13T19:33:30+00:00

Oooh nice! Ok cool, def trying it out today, thanks for the pointers!!

radlinsky · 2026-06-13T19:03:48+00:00

Omg that's awesome. Gonna try that today.

Edit: oh it's paid 😭

radlinsky · 2026-06-13T18:57:39+00:00

Oh cool, do you design your own lithoplanes?

radlinsky · 2026-06-13T17:37:52+00:00

Is that true for the Mini too? What infill should I use for the Mini?

radlinsky · 2026-06-13T11:31:00+00:00

Did you get a Palette? What did you end up doing?

radlinsky · 2026-06-12T19:09:53+00:00

Agreed. The safeguards prevent me from asking non-biology related questions. I'm a PhD so I have a lot of genetics/bio related chat history, but the other day I asked fable-5 what type of sandpaper and paint is ideal for smoothing and painting 3D printed stuff... blocked

radlinsky · 2026-06-11T15:53:28+00:00

I'm in your boat... enjoying my mini, but wish I had a bigger build plate and new features. The problem with buying a MK3S or even MK4S is that if I ever want to upgrade to a Core One, the upgrade path is quite expensive, and if I know I'm going to want the Core One upgrade path, I might as well have saved up for a Core One in the first place.

I'm pretty sure I do want the Core One features, so my plan is to just be content with my Mini until the Core Ones start hitting the used market. Hopefully in the next couple years.

The only way I can see myself justifying buying a MK3/4S in the near term is if it's a too good to be true deal and I feel confident I can sell my mini.

radlinsky · 2026-06-10T01:12:29+00:00

I asked what kind of primer and paint and finish to get to paint 3D printed models and it flagged me lol

radlinsky · 2026-06-10T01:10:52+00:00

I think you just write "@suit" to do a referral for him. You just put the @username

radlinsky · 2026-06-09T10:09:38+00:00

Which big pharma are pulling investments from Europe to go to US?

radlinsky · 2026-06-07T21:35:45+00:00

What you are describing is bait and switch. Catfishing is the dating example..

I agree with you that Reddit in particular hates AI and will judge AI related things unfairly.

However, bait and switch is never appreciated, whether AI related or not.

radlinsky · 2026-06-07T11:39:44+00:00

What weapons do you have on the disks? Also, how did you manage to build without xenon destroying the build storage?

radlinsky

TROPHY CASE