Best Hardware for Running Local AI in 2026: NPU, GPU & Apple Silicon Compared

Comprehensive comparison of hardware for local LLM inference in 2026. Apple M4 Max vs RTX 5090 vs AMD Strix Halo vs Snapdragon X Elite, verified specs, benchmarks, and recommendations.

Snapshot 2026-10-16 · 394 configs on AI boxes and 423 on GPU cards · 123 models. Every number is generated from the tracker snapshot and linked to where it was measured; nothing here is typed by hand.

More: all configs · hardware · news · contributors · methodology · llms.txt · llms-full.txt · API (OpenAPI) · JSON snapshot. Built by Altronis, private on-prem AI, Singapore.