What can I realistically do with local AI on a Mac mini M5 Pro (48GB)?

I just got a Mac mini with an M5 Pro (base CPU config) and 48GB of unified memory. I want to run as much AI locally as makes sense, but it's hard to separate what actually works day to day from benchmark hype. What I'd like to do: Coding: autocomplete and agentic workflows with local models Image generation Anything else genuinely useful: transcription, RAG over my notes, etc. Questions: Which models and quantizations fit comfortably in 48GB and are actually usable, not just "it runs"? Which runtime and tools: MLX, llama.cpp, Ollama, LM Studio, ComfyUI, something else? What's your setup, and what did you give up on and go back to cloud APIs for? Real tokens/sec numbers and "this was a waste of time" stories are especially welcome.