Can Ministral 8B run on iPhone 15 Pro?
YES — Runs, barely
Grade B · 66/100 · formula estimate
What this means
Our estimate says Ministral 8B should fit, but replies are likely to arrive slowly.
Download the Q2_K version, which is about 3.2 GB. We expect it to use about 4.5 GB of the roughly 5.2 GB available to a model on this phone.
At the estimated speed, a roughly 300-word answer may take about 56 seconds to finish.
This result is calculated from the phone and model specifications. It has not been measured on this exact phone and setup.
7.2tokens/s
estimated · reading pace
4.5GB
needed at Q2_K
Q2_K
quant checked
B
grade · 66/100
needs 4.5 GBusable 5.2 GB
Apple A17 Pro8 GB RAMMetal
Make it bearable
1
Drop context to 2K — saves ~0.3 GB of KV cache and a little speed.
2
Close every other app before loading — the 0.7 GB headroom is real; iOS may evict the model otherwise.
3
Expect throttling after ~10 min of sustained generation on a phone chassis.
See how fast it feels
Estimated at 7.2 tokens/s — reading pace. A ~300-word reply takes about 56 seconds on this phone.
Where the memory goes
| Component | Detail | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Model weights | Q2_K GGUF (3.2 GB) + mmap overhead | 3.4 |
| KV cache | 4K context window | 0.6 |
| Runtime | llama.cpp + app overhead | 0.6 |
| Total needed | at Q2_K, 4K context | 4.5 |
| Usable on iPhone 15 Pro | 8 GB RAM − iOS reserve (jetsam limit) | 5.2 |
| Headroom | left for the OS and your other apps | 0.7 |
Pick your quant
| Quant | Download | Verdict | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K BEST HERE | 3.2 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~7.2 tokens/s |
| Q3_K_M | 4 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| IQ4_XS | 4.4 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_0 | 4.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_K_S | 4.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_K_M | 4.9 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q5_K_M | 5.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q6_K | 6.6 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q8_0 | 8.5 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
Get it running in 3 steps
1
Install PocketPal from the App Store — free, no account needed.
2
Download "Ministral 8B Q2_K" in the in-app model hub — 3.2 GB, use Wi-Fi. Search Hugging Face for
bartowski/Ministral-8B-Instruct-2410-GGUF and pick the Q2_K file.3
Set context to 4K and enable Metal — expect ~7.2 tokens/s on this phone.
Related checks
MORE ON IPHONE 15 PRO
MINISTRAL 8B ON OTHER PHONES