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Apple M4 for local LLMs

Name: LLM Configurator — GPU VRAM Checker
Author: LLM Configurator

Written by Jakub Rusinowski · Last updated July 12, 2026

With 32 GB at 120 GB/s, the M4 runs 119 catalogued models at Q4_K_M with 8K context. The largest that fits is Qwen 3 32B (~22.8 GB), and the top pick is Laguna XS 2.1 33B-A3B at 11–23 tok/s.

Up to 32 GB unified memory at 120 GB/s. Fits 7–8B models with room for larger context windows, and can run some 13–14B models at aggressive quantization. Ships in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, iMac, and iPad Pro.

Check my hardware →Full benchmark table

Models that run on the M4

Q4_K_M, 8K context, 24 GB usable. Ranked by quality and speed.

Model	VRAM	Speed	Fit
Laguna XS 2.1 33B-A3B Poolside Laguna XS 2.1	20.7 GB	11–23 tok/s	Fits
Nemotron-Cascade 2 30B-A3B Nemotron Cascade 2	19.9 GB	10–22 tok/s	Fits
Qwen 3 30B-A3B (MoE) Qwen 3	20 GB	14–30 tok/s	Fits
Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B (MoE) Qwen3-Coder	20 GB	14–30 tok/s	Fits
GLM-4.7-Flash 30B-A3B GLM-4.7 / GLM-Z1	18.9 GB	11–23 tok/s	Fits
Nemotron 3 Nano Omni 30B-A3B Nemotron 3 Nano Omni	18.9 GB	11–23 tok/s	Fits
North Mini Code 1.0 30B-A3B North Mini Code	18.9 GB	11–23 tok/s	Fits
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B Nemotron 3.5	18.9 GB	11–23 tok/s	Fits
Trinity Mini Trinity	16.9 GB	20–41 tok/s	Fits
Gemma 4 26B-A4B Gemma 4	17 GB	14–29 tok/s	Fits
LFM2.5-24B-A2B LFM2.5	15.5 GB	23–48 tok/s	Fits
GPT-OSS 20B GPT-OSS	13.6 GB	17–34 tok/s	Fits

Showing 12 of 119

Buy it or rent the same memory

Buy the card, or rent a GPU with the same memory by the hour to try models first.

Buy this hardware Apple Mac mini M4 (16GB) — 16 GB unified memory · 120 GB/s Deploy in the cloud now NVIDIA A40 on RunPod — from $0.44/hr · rate checked 2026-08

or compare on Vast.ai

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Apple Mac mini M4 (16GB)

16 GB unified memory · 120 GB/s

2026 prices are volatile — check the current listing.

Check price on Amazon

Speed vs other GPUs

Llama 3.1 8B, Q4_K_M. Estimated ranges. How this is calculated

RTX 5090113–234 tok/s RTX 409086–165 tok/s RTX 5090 Laptop GPU70–145 tok/s RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell (Workstation Edition)70–145 tok/s RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell Laptop GPU70–145 tok/s RTX 3090 Ti63–122 tok/s M5 Ultra59–123 tok/s RTX 309060–115 tok/s M47.7–16 tok/s

Specifications

Specs last updated 2026-07-12.

Memory: 32 GB
Memory bandwidth: 120 GB/s
Architecture: ARM, 3nm TSMC
Series: Apple Silicon
Board power: 22 W
Release year: 2024
Usable for models: 24 GB (~75% of unified)

Best for8B–14B models (Q4)MacBook AirMac miniiPad Pro

Recommended first model (Ollama)

Frequently asked questions

Can the Apple M4 run local LLMs?

Yes. With 32 GB (24 GB usable by a model) it runs 119 of the catalogued models at Q4_K_M with 8K context; the largest is Qwen 3 32B, needing about 22.8 GB.

How fast is the Apple M4 for AI inference?

It is estimated to run Llama 3.1 8B at 7.7–16 tok/s at Q4_K_M. Llama 3.3 70B does not fit: it needs about 44 GB against 24 GB usable. These are modelled estimates from memory bandwidth, not measurements; the methodology page shows the formula.

What LLMs can I run on 32 GB?

Among the best that fit: Laguna XS 2.1 33B-A3B, Nemotron-Cascade 2 30B-A3B, Qwen 3 30B-A3B (MoE), Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B (MoE), GLM-4.7-Flash 30B-A3B. The quickest start is Ollama: ollama run llama3.1:8b.