Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated June 3, 2026
Yes
Yes — Gemma 4 12B (Unified) at Q8_0 needs about 14.9 GB of the 18 GB usable on MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro, 24 GB) (~3.1 GB spare), at ~10.8 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.
Confidence: medium · Recommended quantization: Q8_0 · Estimated speed: ~10.8 tok/s
| Usable memory for models | 18 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 273 GB/s |
| Form factor | Laptop |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
| Price | $1,999 (lib/data/laptops.ts (street price), checked 2026-07-06) |
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 18 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 26.1 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 24 GB |
| Q8_0 | 14.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~10.8 tok/s | 12.8 GB |
| Q6_K | 11.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | ~13.7 tok/s | 9.8 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 10.6 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | ~15.6 tok/s | 8.5 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 9.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | ~17.9 tok/s | 7.2 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 7.2 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~24.1 tok/s | 5.1 GB |
| Q2_K | 6.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 64K | ~29.6 tok/s | 3.9 GB |
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemma 4 31B | 21.3 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Gemma 4 26B-A4B | 18.2 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Gemma 4 12B (Unified) | 9.4 GB | ✓ Fits | ~17.9 tok/s |
| Gemma 4 E4B | 6.8 GB | ✓ Fits | ~25.6 tok/s |
| Gemma 4 E2B | 4.9 GB | ✓ Fits | ~37.1 tok/s |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes — Gemma 4 12B (Unified) at Q8_0 needs about 14.9 GB of the 18 GB usable on MacBook Pro 14" (M4 Pro, 24 GB) (~3.1 GB spare), at ~10.8 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 16,384 tokens of context.
Q8_0 — it needs about 14.9 GB of the 18 GB available, downloads as roughly 12.8 GB, and runs at an estimated 10.8 tokens/sec with up to 16K of context.
Nothing binding — the model fits with headroom and generates at a usable speed on this hardware.
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput