mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

mlx-snn: Spiking Neural Networks on Apple Silicon via MLX

arXiv 2603.03529 ↗First posted 3 Mar 2026cs.LG cs.AI cs.NEcited by 0

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Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce mlx-snn, the first spiking neural network (SNN) library built natively on Apple's MLX framework. As SNN research grows rapidly, all major libraries -- snnTorch, Norse, SpikingJelly, Lava -- target PyTorch or custom backends, leaving Apple Silicon users without a native option. mlx-snn provides six neuron models (LIF, IF, Izhikevich, Adaptive LIF, Synaptic, Alpha), four surrogate gradient functions, four spike encoding methods (including an EEG-specific encoder), and a complete backpropagation-through-time training pipeline. The library leverages MLX's unified memory architecture, lazy evaluation, and composable function transforms (mx.grad, mx.compile) to enable efficient SNN research on Apple Silicon hardware. We validate mlx-snn on MNIST digit classification across five hyperparameter configurations and three backends, achieving up to 97.28% accuracy with 2.0--2.5 times faster training and 3--10 times lower GPU memory than snnTorch on the same M3 Max hardware. mlx-snn is open-source under the MIT license and available on PyPI. https://github.com/D-ST-Sword/mlx-snn

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References · 5

  1. 2019PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Librarycited by 20,160
  2. 2019Surrogate Gradient Learning in Spiking Neural Networkscited by 604
  3. 2021Training Spiking Neural Networks Using Lessons From Deep Learningcited by 251
  4. 2018Long short-term memory and learning-to-learn in networks of spiking neuronscited by 179
  5. 2023SpikingJelly: An open-source machine learning infrastructure platform for spike-based intelligencecited by 163

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