diff --git a/services/hwfit/fit.py b/services/hwfit/fit.py
index 10ab286e0..7a3d4c4f2 100644
--- a/services/hwfit/fit.py
+++ b/services/hwfit/fit.py
@@ -109,10 +109,15 @@ def _lookup_bandwidth(system):
     if not isinstance(gpu_name, str) or not gpu_name:
         return None
 
-    if isinstance(system, dict):
-        bw = _lookup_apple_bandwidth(system)
-        if bw is not None:
-            return bw
+    # Apple tiers live only in the Apple-specific table now (#2564), so route
+    # BOTH dict and bare-string callers through it. A bare string carries no
+    # gpu_cores, so the helper falls back to the conservative (lowest) tier for
+    # that model -- before #2564 the generic table answered string lookups, and
+    # dropping that made _lookup_bandwidth("Apple M3 Max") return None.
+    apple_input = system if isinstance(system, dict) else {"gpu_name": gpu_name}
+    bw = _lookup_apple_bandwidth(apple_input)
+    if bw is not None:
+        return bw
 
     gn = gpu_name.lower()
     for key in _BW_KEYS_SORTED:
diff --git a/tests/test_hwfit_apple_bandwidth.py b/tests/test_hwfit_apple_bandwidth.py
index f5b6df3d4..0977ba517 100644
--- a/tests/test_hwfit_apple_bandwidth.py
+++ b/tests/test_hwfit_apple_bandwidth.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from services.hwfit.fit import _lookup_bandwidth
+from services.hwfit.fit import _lookup_apple_bandwidth, _lookup_bandwidth
 
 
 def test_m3_max_bandwidth_uses_gpu_cores():
@@ -35,6 +35,25 @@ def test_non_apple_gpu_does_not_match_apple_bandwidth():
 
 
 def test_non_apple_gpu_with_cores_does_not_match():
-    """NVIDIA GPU with core count should not match Apple bandwidth."""
-    assert _lookup_bandwidth({"gpu_name": "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090", "gpu_cores": 128}) is None
-    assert _lookup_bandwidth({"gpu_name": "AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT", "gpu_cores": 64}) is None
+    """A non-Apple GPU that happens to carry a gpu_cores count must not be
+    matched by the APPLE bandwidth path. This asserts the Apple-specific
+    matcher directly: _lookup_bandwidth would (correctly) return these cards'
+    real bandwidth from the general GPU table (e.g. the RTX 4090's 1008 GB/s),
+    which is a different code path and not what this guard is about.
+    """
+    assert _lookup_apple_bandwidth({"gpu_name": "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090", "gpu_cores": 128}) is None
+    assert _lookup_apple_bandwidth({"gpu_name": "AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT", "gpu_cores": 64}) is None
+
+
+def test_apple_string_input_resolves_conservative_tier():
+    """Bare-string callers must still get Apple bandwidth. #2564 moved the
+    Apple tiers out of the generic GPU table into the dict-only Apple helper,
+    so _lookup_bandwidth("Apple M3 Max") (no gpu_cores) regressed to None;
+    string inputs now route through the Apple helper and get the conservative
+    (lowest) tier for the model."""
+    assert _lookup_bandwidth("Apple M3 Max") == 300
+    assert _lookup_bandwidth("Apple M4 Max") == 410
+    assert _lookup_bandwidth("Apple M5 Max") == 460
+    # Non-Apple strings still fall through to the generic table.
+    assert _lookup_bandwidth("NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090") == 1008
+    assert _lookup_bandwidth("Totally Unknown GPU") is None