Can Apple M4 run Gemma 4 12B?
Last updated:
Yes. Measured 13.1 tok/s generation (llama.cpp server (Metal), Q4_K_M; source).
Every measured result for Gemma 4 12B on Apple M4
| Build | Quant / setup | Engine | tok/s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M4 (16 GB): Qwen3.5 9B Q4_K_M at 17.7 tok/s, Gemma 4 12B at 13.1 (llama.cpp Metal) | Q4_K_M | llama.cpp server (Metal) | 13.1 | source |
Memory: Apple M4 has 16 GB. Gemma 4 12B weights are about 7.3 GB at Q4_K_M (11.91B params × 4.89 bits ÷ 8, before context/KV cache). Arithmetic, not a measurement; long contexts need more. Check other quants in the VRAM calculator.
Speeds are decode (generation) tokens/sec as reported by each source; quant, engine and context differ, so small gaps are noise.
All measured speeds for Gemma 4 12B: best home rig for Gemma 4 12B.
Gemma 4 12B on other hardware: RTX 3060 12GB · RTX 4090 · RTX 5070 Ti · RTX 5090
Other models measured on Apple M4: Qwen3.5 9B
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