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text model · Qwen3-Coder · iOS

Can I run Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B on iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config)?

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

No. Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B needs ~19.4 GB even at Q4_K_M, but iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) only has ~12 GB usable.

Needs ~19.4 GB Device usable ~12 GB

Needs ~19.4 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 7.4 GB: Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B needs roughly 19.4 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 Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (24GB) at 24 GB. See Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B on Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (24GB).

Q4_K_M needed
~19.4 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
~14.9 GB
Q3_K_M
~17 GB
Q4_K_M
~19.4 GB
Q5_K_M
~23.8 GB
Q6_K
~27.1 GB
Q8_0
~32.4 GB
FP16
~63.2 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 Qwen3-Coder
Parameters
30.5B (MoE, 3.3B active)
Q4_K_M size
17.28 GB
Q8_0 size
30.25 GB
Context
256k
Ollama tag
qwen3-coder:30b
Full Qwen3-Coder 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 Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B on other hardware

FAQ

Can iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) run Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B?

No. Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B needs ~19.4 GB even at Q4_K_M, but iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) only has ~12 GB usable.

How much memory does Qwen3-Coder 30B-A3B need?

iPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) does not have enough memory. At Q4_K_M the weights are ~17.28 GB; with KV cache and runtime overhead, budget ~19.4 GB at a 4k context. It is a Mixture-of-Experts model (30.5B total / 3.3B active), so all experts must stay in memory; memory tracks total params, not active params.

What is the best tool to run Qwen3-Coder 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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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.