MLX inference hits parity with llama.cpp

MLX's transition from an experimental library to a production-grade inference stack marks a turning point for Mac-based LLM deployment. MoE architectures like Qwen 3.5 now deliver 70+ tok/s by activating only a fraction of total parameters, while hybrid Mamba-2 layers in Nemotron Super ensure constant-time scaling to minimize context performance degradation. Furthermore, strategic optimizations like SpecPrefill reduce long-context TTFT by over 5x on high-end Mac hardware, and the maturity of the vllm-mlx stack provides the continuous batching and prefix caching necessary for concurrent agent workloads.