Ask HN: M5 MacBook Pro buyers, worth spending the $$$ to maybe run LLMs local?

To anyone upgrading their daily driver Mac this year, are you considering going to a Max + high memory config? eg. with the hope (now or in near future) of being able to do usefully run agents/LLMs locally on your main machine?

Or is the few extra thousand dollars difference between a base and max-spec MBP still just better spent on literally any other practical option (like different harware, remote hardware, cloud AI subscriptions or credits). Or wait to see if there will be an M5 Studio or what inferencing performance next year's M6 may bring?

I am tempted, but even with some new models getting skinnier and more efficient, I am not sure moore's law and the M5 generation is quite there yet to be worth the trouble?

What call's are ya'll making and why?

6 points | by tpurves 3 hours ago

2 comments

  • raw_anon_1111 2 hours ago
    I have never come close to hitting a limit using Codex cli with my $20/month ChatGPT subscription all day for five months
  • tim-tday 2 hours ago
    I’m never buying an Apple product ever again.