Laptops are fundamentally a poor form factor for high performance computing.

Yeah, Apple hardware don't seem ideal for LLMs that are large, give it a go with a dedicated GPU if you're inclined and you'll see a big difference :)

What are some good GPUs to look for if you're getting started?

If you want to actually run models on a computer at home? The RTX 6000 Blackwell Pro Workstation, hands down. 96GB of VRAM, fits into a standard case (I mean, it’s big, as it’s essentially the same form factor as an RTX 5090 just with a lot denser VRAM).

My RTX 5090 can fit OSS-20B but it’s a bit underwhelming, and for $3000 if I didn’t also use it for gaming I’d have been pretty disappointed.

At anywhere from 9-12k euros [1] I’d be better off paying 200 a month for the super duper lots of tokens tier at 2400 a year and get model improvements and token improvements etc etc for “free” than buy up such a card and it be obsolete on purchase as newer better cards are always coming out.

[1] https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/2063285...

Their issue with the mac was the sound of fans spinning. I doubt a dedicated gpu will resolved that.