text model · Gemma · macOS
Can I run Gemma 3 12B on Apple M4 (24GB)?
Yes. Gemma 3 12B runs on Apple M4 (24GB) at Q4_K_M (~8.9 GB of ~16 GB usable).
Runs at Q4_K_M using ~8.9 GB of ~16 GB usable. You have room for Q8_0 for higher quality.
That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes. Apple M4 (24GB) leaves ~7.1 GB of headroom, room to step up to Q8_0 for higher quality.
- Q4_K_M needed
- ~8.9 GB
- Usable on device
- ~16 GB
- Device memory
- 24 GB
- Best quant
- Q4_K_M
Which quant fits
Running cost · estimate
- Power draw
- ~65 W
- Electricity / 1M tokens
- ~$0.21
- Pays for itself after
- ~4,479M tok
At ~$0.15/kWh and the estimated ~13 tok/s, a million generated tokens costs about $0.21 in electricity. Versus a hosted API at ~$0.5 per million tokens, the ~$1,299 Apple M4 (24GB) pays for itself after roughly 4,479 million tokens, so local hardware is mostly a fixed cost, not a per-token one. TDP is the peak draw, so this is an upper bound. Assumptions.
Run it
Pick your tool. All 3 load the same Q4_K_M weights.
ollama run gemma3:12b llama-cli -hf bartowski/google_gemma-3-12b-it-GGUF:Q4_K_M lms get bartowski/google_gemma-3-12b-it-GGUF - Parameters
- 12B
- Q4_K_M size
- 7.3 GB
- Q8_0 size
- 12.51 GB
- Context
- 128k
- Ollama tag
- gemma3:12b
- Memory
- 24 GB unified
- Usable for weights
- ~16 GB
- Power draw
- ~65 W
- Best runtime
- Ollama (MLX backend, preview) / MLX direct
You could also run
Run Gemma 3 12B on other hardware
FAQ
Can Apple M4 (24GB) run Gemma 3 12B?
Yes. Gemma 3 12B runs on Apple M4 (24GB) at Q4_K_M (~8.9 GB of ~16 GB usable).
How much memory does Gemma 3 12B need?
Apple M4 (24GB) has room to spare. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~7.3 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~8.9 GB at a 4k context.
What is the best tool to run Gemma 3 12B on macOS?
LM Studio for a simple setup; mlx-lm for the most speed. vLLM is NOT a Mac tool, it is a CUDA/Linux serving engine. Unified memory is not a fixed VRAM slice; ~70% is usable for weights.
Embed this
A live badge for your model card or README, updated as the data is. [](https://localmodel.run/can-i-run/gemma-3-12b/apple-m4-24gb) Sources
Weights are measured from GGUF files; KV cache and overhead are computed, so totals can vary ~15% with context and runtime. Any tok/s is a bandwidth estimate. See methodology.