Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated April 28, 2025
Yes, but it is tight
Yes, but it is tight — Qwen 3 14B at Q4_K_M needs about 11.1 GB of the 12 GB usable on Mac mini (M4, 16 GB), leaving only ~0.9 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~6.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Confidence: medium · Recommended quantization: Q4_K_M · Estimated speed: ~6.7 tok/s
| Usable memory for models | 12 GB |
| Memory bandwidth | 120 GB/s |
| Form factor | Mini PC |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Memory upgradeable | No — soldered |
| Price | $599 (lib/data/ai-stations.ts (street price), checked 2026-07-06) |
| Quant | Memory needed | Fits 12 GB? | Max context | Est. speed | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F16 | 31.7 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 29.6 GB |
| Q8_0 | 17.9 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 15.7 GB |
| Q6_K | 14.3 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 12.1 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 12.6 GB | ✗ No | — | — | 10.5 GB |
| Q4_K_M | 11.1 GB | ✓ Yes | 8K | ~6.7 tok/s | 8.9 GB |
| Q3_K_M | 8.5 GB | ✓ Yes | 16K | ~9.2 tok/s | 6.3 GB |
| Q2_K | 7 GB | ✓ Yes | 32K | ~11.5 tok/s | 4.9 GB |
| Variant | Needs at Q4_K_M | Fits? | Est. speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen 3 235B-A22B (MoE) | 144.3 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Qwen 3 32B | 22.8 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Qwen 3 30B-A3B (MoE) | 20 GB | ✗ Too large | — |
| Qwen 3 14B | 11.1 GB | ✓ Fits | ~6.7 tok/s |
| Qwen 3 8B | 7 GB | ✓ Fits | ~11.4 tok/s |
Ollama or LM Studio (Metal) — MLX for the fastest Apple-native throughput
Yes, but it is tight — Qwen 3 14B at Q4_K_M needs about 11.1 GB of the 12 GB usable on Mac mini (M4, 16 GB), leaving only ~0.9 GB before the runtime starts swapping. Expect ~6.7 tok/s (estimated), with room for about 8,192 tokens of context.
Q4_K_M — it needs about 11.1 GB of the 12 GB available, downloads as roughly 8.9 GB, and runs at an estimated 6.7 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