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Can a M4 16GB run Gemma 4 12B?

Yes. Gemma 4 12B fits in fast memory on M4 16GB at Q4_K_M (9.6 GB needed, 10.7 GB usable), about 12 tok/s (estimate).

Hardware: M4 16GB · Model: Gemma 4 12B

M4 16GB has 16 GB of unified memory and 120 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The checker leaves macOS a share of unified memory, so Ollama can use 10.7 GB. Gemma 4 12B (12B, Google) at Q4_K_M is a 8 GB download and needs 9.6 GB with headroom for about 8k tokens.

Best quantQ4_K_M
Download size8 GB
Memory needed9.6 GB
Usable fast memory10.7 GB
Fitfits in fast memory
Estimated speed~12 tok/s (estimate)
Commandollama run gemma4:12b-it-q4_K_M
Open M4 16GB in the checker

Estimates, not benchmarks. Model sizes are ollama.com download sizes; memory needed adds headroom for ~8k tokens of context; speeds are rough figures from memory bandwidth. Data updated 2026-10-23.

A project by OnDevice Labs · llms.txt