RUNLOCALAIv38
→WILL IT RUNBEST GPUCOMPARETROUBLESHOOTSTARTPULSEMODELSHARDWARETOOLSBENCH
RUNLOCALAI

Operator-grade instrument for local-AI hardware intelligence. Hand-written verdicts. Real benchmarks. Reproducible commands.

OP·Fredoline Eruo
DIR
  • Models
  • Hardware
  • Tools
  • Benchmarks
  • Will it run?
GUIDES
  • Best GPU
  • Best laptop
  • Best Mac
  • Best used GPU
  • Best budget GPU
  • Best GPU for Ollama
  • Best GPU for SD
  • AI PC build $2K
  • CUDA vs ROCm
  • 16 vs 24 GB
  • Compare hardware
  • Custom compare
REF
  • Systems
  • Ecosystem maps
  • Pillar guides
  • Methodology
  • Glossary
  • Errors KB
  • Troubleshooting
  • Resources
  • Public API
EDITOR
  • About
  • About the author
  • Changelog
  • Latest
  • Updates
  • Submit benchmark
  • Send feedback
  • Trust
  • Editorial policy
  • How we make money
  • Contact
LEGAL
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Sitemap
MAIL · MONTHLY DIGEST
Get monthly local AI changes
Monthly recap. No spam.
DISCLOSURE

Some links on this site are affiliate links (Amazon Associates and other first-class retailers). When you buy through them, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate links do not influence our verdicts — there are cards we rate highly that we don't have affiliate relationships with, and cards that sell well that we refuse to recommend. Read more →

SYS · ONLINEUPTIME · 100%2026 · operator-owned
RUNLOCALAI · v38
  1. >
  2. Home
  3. /Tools
  4. /MLX Swift
runner
Open source
free + open-source

MLX Swift

Apple's Swift bindings for MLX. The native iOS / iPadOS path for on-device LLM inference. Apple-published example apps demonstrate Llama 3.2, Phi-3.5, Qwen 2.5 running on iPhone 15 Pro+ at usable rates.

By Fredoline Eruo·Last verified May 7, 2026·1,300 GitHub stars

Overview

Apple's Swift bindings for MLX. The native iOS / iPadOS path for on-device LLM inference. Apple-published example apps demonstrate Llama 3.2, Phi-3.5, Qwen 2.5 running on iPhone 15 Pro+ at usable rates.

Featured in this stack

The L3 execution stacks that pick this tool as a recommended component, with the one-line note explaining the role it plays in each.

  • Stack · L3·Homelab tier·Role: On-device runtime (Apple-first-party Swift API)
    iPhone on-device AI stack — Llama 3.2 3B / Phi-3.5 Mini via MLX Swift

    MLX Swift is Apple's first-party path. Same model checkpoints as desktop MLX-LM (write once, run on Mac + iPhone + iPad). Active Apple maintenance — updated alongside iOS releases. iOS-only is the catch.

Pros

  • Apple first-party — production-ready API for iOS apps
  • Shares model checkpoints with desktop MLX — write once, run on Mac + iPhone
  • Active Apple maintenance — updated alongside macOS/iOS releases

Cons

  • iOS-only — no Android / Windows path
  • Smaller community than MLC LLM
  • Requires Swift / Xcode toolchain (not Python-friendly)

Compatibility

Operating systems
iOS
macOS
iPadOS
GPU backends
Apple
LicenseOpen source · free + open-source

Runtime health

Operator-grade signals on how actively MLX Swift is being maintained, how fresh its measurements are, and what failure classes operators have flagged. Every label below is anchored to a real date or count — we never infer maintainer activity we can't show.

Release cadence

Derived from the most recent editorial signal on this row.

Active
Updated May 7, 2026

6 days since last refresh · source: lastUpdated

Benchmark freshness

How recent the editorial measurements on this runtime are.

0editorial benchmarks

No editorial benchmarks for this runtime yet.

Community reproduction

Submissions that match an editorial measurement on similar hardware.

0reproduced reports

No community reproductions on file yet.

Get MLX Swift

Official site
https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-swift
GitHub
https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx-swift

Frequently asked

Is MLX Swift free?

MLX Swift has a paid tier (free + open-source). Check the pricing page for current terms.

What operating systems does MLX Swift support?

MLX Swift supports iOS, macOS, iPadOS.

Which GPUs work with MLX Swift?

MLX Swift supports Apple. CPU-only inference is also possible but slow.
See something off?Report outdated·Suggest a correctionWe read every submission. Editorial review takes 1-7 days.

Reviewed by RunLocalAI Editorial. See our editorial policy for how we evaluate tools.

Related — keep moving

Compare hardware
  • RTX 3090 vs RTX 4090 →
  • Apple M4 Max vs RTX 4090 →
Buyer guides
  • Best GPU for local AI →
  • Best budget GPU →
When it doesn't work
  • llama.cpp too slow →
  • llama.cpp build failed →
  • llama.cpp Metal crash (Mac) →
  • GGUF tokenizer mismatch →
Recommended hardware
  • RTX 3090 (used) →
  • Apple M4 Max →
Alternatives
MLX-LMExLlamaV2llama.cppLlamafileOllamaIPEX-LLMCTranslate2Intel OpenVINO
Before you buy

Verify MLX Swift runs on your specific hardware before committing money.

Will it run on my hardware? →Custom hardware comparison →GPU recommender (4 questions) →