Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated January 6, 2025
Yes, but it is tight
Yes, but it is tight — Phi-4 (14B) at Q4_K_M needs about 10.9 GB of the 12 GB usable on MacBook Air (M4, 16 GB), leaving only ~1.1 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~6.9 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Confidence: medium · Recommended quantization: Q4_K_M · Estimated speed: ~6.9 tok/s
| Usable memory for models | 12 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 120 GB/s |
| Form factor | Laptop |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 12 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 30.5 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 28 GB |
| Q8_0 | 17.4 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 14.9 GB |
| Q6_K | 14 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 11.5 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 12.4 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 9.9 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 10.9 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~6.9 tok/s | 8.5 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 8.4 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~9.4 tok/s | 6 GB |
| Q2_K | 7.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~11.7 tok/s | 4.6 GB |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes, but it is tight — Phi-4 (14B) at Q4_K_M needs about 10.9 GB of the 12 GB usable on MacBook Air (M4, 16 GB), leaving only ~1.1 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~6.9 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Q4_K_M — it needs about 10.9 GB of the 12 GB available, downloads as roughly 8.5 GB, and runs at an estimated 6.9 tokens/sec with up to 8K 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
← Can I Run It? | Phi-4 Family model page | Check your hardware