MLX vs llama.cpp on Apple Silicon (2026): Run a Local LLM in 5 Minutes

Article automatically generated from technical news.

If you have an M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac, you can run real LLMs entirely on-device — no API keys, no cloud bills, and no prompts leaving your machine. Two tools dominate on Apple Silicon: MLX (Apple's own ML framework) and llama.cpp (the portable C++ engine). Here's how to get MLX running in five minutes, and when to pick which. Why run local on a Mac? Privacy: your prompts never leave the laptop. Co