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text model · LFM · macOS

Can I run LFM2 24B-A2B on Apple M2 (16GB)?

Compatibility verdict VRAM threshold engine
No, not enough memory would not load

No. LFM2 24B-A2B needs ~15.4 GB even at Q4_K_M, but Apple M2 (16GB) only has ~10.5 GB usable.

Needs ~15.4 GB Device usable ~10.5 GB

Needs ~15.4 GB even at Q4_K_M, but only ~10.5 GB is usable.

That figure is at a 4k context and moves about ±15% as context length changes.

The gap is about 4.9 GB: LFM2 24B-A2B needs roughly 15.4 GB at Q4_K_M and Apple M2 (16GB) leaves only about 10.5 GB usable for a model. The lightest tracked hardware that runs LFM2 24B-A2B is the Apple M4 (24GB) at 24 GB. See LFM2 24B-A2B on Apple M4 (24GB).

Q4_K_M needed
~15.4 GB
Usable on device
~10.5 GB
Device memory
16 GB
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Which quant fits

Quant ladder vs ~10.5 GB usable
Q2_K
~12.1 GB
Q3_K_M
~13.7 GB
Q4_K_M
~15.4 GB
Q5_K_M
~19.1 GB
Q6_K
~21.7 GB
Q8_0
~25.6 GB
FP16
~46.4 GB
The line marks Apple M2 (16GB)'s ~10.5 GB budget; rungs past it are too large.
Model LFM
Parameters
24B (MoE, 2.3B active)
Q4_K_M size
13.43 GB
Q8_0 size
23.61 GB
Context
32k
Ollama tag
lfm2:24b
Full LFM2 24B-A2B requirements →
Device macOS
Memory
16 GB unified
Usable for weights
~10.5 GB
Power draw
~50 W
Best runtime
Ollama (llama.cpp Metal backend) / MLX
Best models for Apple M2 (16GB) →

What you can run instead

Run LFM2 24B-A2B on other hardware

FAQ

Can Apple M2 (16GB) run LFM2 24B-A2B?

No. LFM2 24B-A2B needs ~15.4 GB even at Q4_K_M, but Apple M2 (16GB) only has ~10.5 GB usable.

How much memory does LFM2 24B-A2B need?

Apple M2 (16GB) does not have enough memory. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~13.43 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~15.4 GB at a 4k context. It is a Mixture-of-Experts model (24B total / 2.3B active), so all experts must stay in memory; memory tracks total params, not active params.

What is the best tool to run LFM2 24B-A2B 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.

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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.