MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB vs Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB for local AI
The GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB holds 41 of the 50 current models here, and the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB holds 34. The MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB costs $1 less. On Qwen3.8 27B, the strongest model both hold, the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB is about 1.2× faster: 12 tok/s against 10, both estimated from memory bandwidth. The MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB pays for itself sooner, in 242 years against 275 years at 500k tokens a day.
| MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB | Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3,599 | $3,600 |
| Memory | 48 GB | 128 GB |
| Usable by the GPU | 36 GB | 96 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 307 GB/s | 256 GB/s |
| Power under load | 140 Wstand-in | 150 W |
| Models that fit | 34 | 41 |
| Best model it runs | Qwen3.8 27B | Qwen3.8 27B |
| Speed on that model | 12 tok/s estimated | 10 tok/s estimated |
| Pay-back on that model | Pays back in 242 years | Pays back in 275 years |
The 140 W beside the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB is a stand-in, not a figure for that machine: the data borrows it from the nearest hardware it does have, and the machine's own page names which and why. So the two figures above are not like for like, and the electricity in its pay-back here is priced from a borrowed number.
Run the numbers on the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB · or the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB
Jump to: The same money, two different machines · How much use it takes to pay back · What the extra memory buys · The assumptions behind both columns
The same money, two different machines
These two cost within $1 of each other: $3,599 for the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB and $3,600 for the GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB. Apple makes one and GMKtec the other. Every other head-to-head on this site holds a piece of the hardware equal and asks what the price gap buys. This one holds the price, so the row that usually carries the answer is the row the two machines agree on, and everything under it is what the same money buys twice.
How much use it takes to pay back
Everything above is at 500k tokens a day. Pay-back moves with how much you actually run, so here are both machines on Qwen3.8 27B, the strongest model both hold, at the five levels of use the calculator names. The MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB pays back sooner at every level of use, so this is not a choice that turns on how hard you work it.
| A day's use | MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB | Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB |
|---|---|---|
| 50ka few chats a day | 2,424 years | 2,746 years |
| 200klight assistant use | 606 years | 687 years |
| 1Ma moderate coding-assistant day | 121 years | 137 years |
| 4Mheavy coding with an agent | 30 years | 34 years |
| 20Magents running most of the day | 7.1 yearsits ceiling | 9.6 yearsits ceiling |
On Qwen3.8 27B neither machine can generate 20M tokens a day: the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB manages at most 17.1M and the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB at most 14.3M. Both figures on that row are for the most each can do.
Run the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB at 20M tokens a day · or the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB
What the extra memory buys
The Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB holds 7 models the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB cannot at 32k of context. The strongest of them are what the difference in memory actually buys.
| Model | Weights | Needs at 32k | On the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ling 3.0 flashHaiku-class | 78 GB | 78 GB | 41 tok/s estimated |
| Qwen3.5 122B-A10BHaiku-class | 78 GB | 79 GB | 20 tok/s estimated |
| gpt-oss-120bBelow every hosted tier | 63 GB | 65 GB | 35 tok/s estimated |
| Mistral Small 4 (119B-2603)Below every hosted tier | 74 GB | 75 GB | 32 tok/s estimated |
| Qwen3-Coder NextBelow every hosted tier | 48 GB | 49 GB | 54 tok/s estimated |
| Devstral 2 123BBelow every hosted tier | 75 GB | 87 GB | 2.2 tok/s estimated |
1 more, on the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB page.
The extra memory buys context as well. Of the 34 current models both machines hold at 32k, 7 run to a longer window on the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB: the weights are a fixed size and the KV cache is not, so what the weights leave spare is what a longer context grows into. Nanbeige4.3 33B reaches 256k there against 64k on the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB, each the longest window the calculator offers that the machine still holds it at.
The MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB is also head to head with another computer: Minisforum MS-S1 Max, 128GB. With the same machine at another memory size: 24GB · 64GB.
The GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB is also head to head with another computer: Framework Desktop, 128GB.
The assumptions behind both columns
Both columns use the same usage: 500k tokens a day at 15:1 input to output, 32k of context, $0.17 per kWh, and today's API prices held flat. Speeds marked estimated are worked out from memory bandwidth rather than measured, and pay-back scales with them. Change any of it in the calculator.
More head to head: everything the MacBook Pro M5 Pro (16-inch), 48GB runs · everything the Strix Halo GMKtec EVO-X3, 128GB runs · every other match-up · the quickest pay-back at each level of use · every model against the frontier