text model · Nemotron 3 · iOS

Can I run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B on iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config)?

Compatibility verdict VRAM threshold engine

No, not enough memory would not load

No. Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B needs ~25.1 GB even at Q4_K_M, but iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) only has ~12 GB usable.

Needs ~25.1 GB Device usable ~12 GB

Needs ~25.1 GB even at Q4_K_M, but only ~12 GB is usable.

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

The gap is about 13.1 GB: Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B needs roughly 25.1 GB at Q4_K_M and iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) leaves only about 12 GB usable for a model. The lightest tracked hardware that runs Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB) at 32 GB. See Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B on Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB).

Q4_K_M needed: ~25.1 GB
Usable on device: ~12 GB
Device memory: 16 GB

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Which quant fits

Quant ladder vs ~12 GB usable

Q2_K

~14.7 GB

Q3_K_M

~16.8 GB

Q4_K_M

~25.1 GB

Q5_K_M

~23.5 GB

Q6_K

~26.7 GB

Q8_0

~33.4 GB

FP16

~62.1 GB

The line marks iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config)'s ~12 GB budget; rungs past it are too large.

How to run it

On iOS use Apple Foundation Models (Built into iOS 26, ~3B on-device model, zero download, fully private.).

Model Nemotron 3

Parameters: 30B (MoE, 3B active)
Q4_K_M size: 23.03 GB
Q8_0 size: 31.28 GB
Context: 256k
Ollama tag: nemotron-cascade-2:30b

Full Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B requirements →

Device iOS

Memory: 16 GB unified
Usable for weights: ~12 GB
Power draw: ~14 W
Best runtime: MLX (via Python or Swift; mlx-lm package)

Best models for iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) →

What you can run instead

Run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B on other hardware

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB)32GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only)Apple M4 Pro (48GB)Apple M5 Pro (48GB)Apple M4 Max (64GB)Apple M4 Max (128GB)

FAQ

Can iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B?

No. Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B needs ~25.1 GB even at Q4_K_M, but iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) only has ~12 GB usable.

How much memory does Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B need?

iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) does not have enough memory. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~23.03 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~25.1 GB at a 4k context. It is a Mixture-of-Experts model (30B total / 3B active), so all experts must stay in memory; memory tracks total params, not active params.

What is the best tool to run Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B on iOS?

On iPhone and iPad, Apple Foundation Models (Built into iOS 26, ~3B on-device model, zero download, fully private.) is the standard choice. Phones realistically run 1B-4B class models. Anything larger thermally throttles or OOMs.

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Markdown

[![Nemotron Cascade 2 30B-A3B on iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config)](https://localmodel.run/badge/nemotron-cascade-2-30b-a3b/ipad-pro-m4-16gb.svg)](https://localmodel.run/can-i-run/nemotron-cascade-2-30b-a3b/ipad-pro-m4-16gb)

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.