---
sidebar_position: 8
title: "Run Local LLMs on Mac"
description: "Set up a local OpenAI-compatible LLM server on macOS with llama.cpp or MLX, including model selection, memory optimization, and real benchmarks on Apple Silicon"
---

# Run Local LLMs on Mac

This guide walks you through running a local LLM server on macOS with an OpenAI-compatible API. You get full privacy, zero API costs, and surprisingly good performance on Apple Silicon.

We cover two backends:

| Backend | Install | Best at | Format |
|---------|---------|---------|--------|
| **llama.cpp** | `brew install llama.cpp` | Fastest time-to-first-token, quantized KV cache for low memory | GGUF |
| **omlx** | [omlx.ai](https://omlx.ai) | Fastest token generation, native Metal optimization | MLX (safetensors) |

Both expose an OpenAI-compatible `/v1/chat/completions` endpoint. Hermes works with either one — just point it at `http://localhost:8080` or `http://localhost:8000`.

:::info Apple Silicon only
This guide targets Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 and later). Intel Macs will work with llama.cpp but without GPU acceleration — expect significantly slower performance.
:::

---

## Choosing a model

For getting started, we recommend **Qwen3.5-9B** — it's a strong reasoning model that fits comfortably in 8GB+ of unified memory with quantization.

| Variant | Size on disk | RAM needed (128K context) | Backend |
|---------|-------------|---------------------------|---------|
| Qwen3.5-9B-Q4_K_M (GGUF) | 5.3 GB | ~10 GB with quantized KV cache | llama.cpp |
| Qwen3.5-9B-mlx-lm-mxfp4 (MLX) | ~5 GB | ~12 GB | omlx |

**Memory rule of thumb:** model size + KV cache. A 9B Q4 model is ~5 GB. The KV cache at 128K context with Q4 quantization adds ~4-5 GB. With default (f16) KV cache, that balloons to ~16 GB. The quantized KV cache flags in llama.cpp are the key trick for memory-constrained systems.

For larger models (27B, 35B), you'll need 32 GB+ of unified memory. The 9B is the sweet spot for 8-16 GB machines.

---

## Option A: llama.cpp

llama.cpp is the most portable local LLM runtime. On macOS it uses Metal for GPU acceleration out of the box.

### Install

```bash
brew install llama.cpp
```

This gives you the `llama-server` command globally.

### Download the model

You need a GGUF-format model. The easiest source is Hugging Face via the `huggingface-cli`:

```bash
brew install huggingface-cli
```

Then download:

```bash
huggingface-cli download unsloth/Qwen3.5-9B-GGUF Qwen3.5-9B-Q4_K_M.gguf --local-dir ~/models
```

:::tip Gated models
Some models on Hugging Face require authentication. Run `huggingface-cli login` first if you get a 401 or 404 error.
:::

### Start the server

```bash
llama-server -m ~/models/Qwen3.5-9B-Q4_K_M.gguf \
  -ngl 99 \
  -c 131072 \
  -np 1 \
  -fa on \
  --cache-type-k q4_0 \
  --cache-type-v q4_0 \
  --host 0.0.0.0
```

Here's what each flag does:

| Flag | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `-ngl 99` | Offload all layers to GPU (Metal). Use a high number to ensure nothing stays on CPU. |
| `-c 131072` | Context window size (128K tokens). Reduce this if you're low on memory. |
| `-np 1` | Number of parallel slots. Keep at 1 for single-user use — more slots split your memory budget. |
| `-fa on` | Flash attention. Reduces memory usage and speeds up long-context inference. |
| `--cache-type-k q4_0` | Quantize the key cache to 4-bit. **This is the big memory saver.** |
| `--cache-type-v q4_0` | Quantize the value cache to 4-bit. Together with the above, this cuts KV cache memory by ~75% vs f16. |
| `--host 0.0.0.0` | Listen on all interfaces. Use `127.0.0.1` if you don't need network access. |

The server is ready when you see:

```
main: server is listening on http://0.0.0.0:8080
srv  update_slots: all slots are idle
```

### Memory optimization for constrained systems

The `--cache-type-k q4_0 --cache-type-v q4_0` flags are the most important optimization for systems with limited memory. Here's the impact at 128K context:

| KV cache type | KV cache memory (128K ctx, 9B model) |
|---------------|--------------------------------------|
| f16 (default) | ~16 GB |
| q8_0 | ~8 GB |
| **q4_0** | **~4 GB** |

On an 8 GB Mac, use `q4_0` KV cache and reduce context to `-c 32768` (32K). On 16 GB, you can comfortably do 128K context. On 32 GB+, you can run larger models or multiple parallel slots.

If you're still running out of memory, reduce context size first (`-c`), then try a smaller quantization (Q3_K_M instead of Q4_K_M).

### Test it

```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "Qwen3.5-9B-Q4_K_M.gguf",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
    "max_tokens": 50
  }' | jq .choices[0].message.content
```

### Get the model name

If you forget the model name, query the models endpoint:

```bash
curl -s http://localhost:8080/v1/models | jq '.data[].id'
```

---

## Option B: MLX via omlx

[omlx](https://omlx.ai) is a macOS-native app that manages and serves MLX models. MLX is Apple's own machine learning framework, optimized specifically for Apple Silicon's unified memory architecture.

### Install

Download and install from [omlx.ai](https://omlx.ai). It provides a GUI for model management and a built-in server.

### Download the model

Use the omlx app to browse and download models. Search for `Qwen3.5-9B-mlx-lm-mxfp4` and download it. Models are stored locally (typically in `~/.omlx/models/`).

### Start the server

omlx serves models on `http://127.0.0.1:8000` by default. Start serving from the app UI, or use the CLI if available.

### Test it

```bash
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "Qwen3.5-9B-mlx-lm-mxfp4",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
    "max_tokens": 50
  }' | jq .choices[0].message.content
```

### List available models

omlx can serve multiple models simultaneously:

```bash
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1/models | jq '.data[].id'
```

---

## Benchmarks: llama.cpp vs MLX

Both backends tested on the same machine (Apple M5 Max, 128 GB unified memory) running the same model (Qwen3.5-9B) at comparable quantization levels (Q4_K_M for GGUF, mxfp4 for MLX). Five diverse prompts, three runs each, backends tested sequentially to avoid resource contention.

### Results

| Metric | llama.cpp (Q4_K_M) | MLX (mxfp4) | Winner |
|--------|-------------------|-------------|--------|
| **TTFT (avg)** | **67 ms** | 289 ms | llama.cpp (4.3x faster) |
| **TTFT (p50)** | **66 ms** | 286 ms | llama.cpp (4.3x faster) |
| **Generation (avg)** | 70 tok/s | **96 tok/s** | MLX (37% faster) |
| **Generation (p50)** | 70 tok/s | **96 tok/s** | MLX (37% faster) |
| **Total time (512 tokens)** | 7.3s | **5.5s** | MLX (25% faster) |

### What this means

- **llama.cpp** excels at prompt processing — its flash attention + quantized KV cache pipeline gets you the first token in ~66ms. If you're building interactive applications where perceived responsiveness matters (chatbots, autocomplete), this is a meaningful advantage.

- **MLX** generates tokens ~37% faster once it gets going. For batch workloads, long-form generation, or any task where total completion time matters more than initial latency, MLX finishes sooner.

- Both backends are **extremely consistent** — variance across runs was negligible. You can rely on these numbers.

### Which one should you pick?

| Use case | Recommendation |
|----------|---------------|
| Interactive chat, low-latency tools | llama.cpp |
| Long-form generation, bulk processing | MLX (omlx) |
| Memory-constrained (8-16 GB) | llama.cpp (quantized KV cache is unmatched) |
| Serving multiple models simultaneously | omlx (built-in multi-model support) |
| Maximum compatibility (Linux too) | llama.cpp |

---

## Connect to Hermes

Once your local server is running:

```bash
hermes model
```

Select **Custom endpoint** and follow the prompts. It will ask for the base URL and model name — use the values from whichever backend you set up above.