# Gemma 3 270M: RAM and VRAM requirements

> Gemma 3 270M is a 270M Gemma model. At Q4_K_M it needs about **1.1 GB** to run and fits **40 of 40** tracked devices. Minimum to run: Apple M1 (8GB).

Last validated: 2026-08-03. Sources: Ollama, HuggingFace GGUF repos, vendor specs.

## Memory by quantization
| Quant | On disk | To run (4k context) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Q4_K_M | 0.2 GB | ~1.1 GB |
| Q8_0 | 0.27 GB | ~1.2 GB |
| FP16 | 0.543 GB | ~1.4 GB |

Memory = weights + KV cache + ~0.8 GB runtime overhead, and varies ±15% with context length.

## Will it run on my device?
- **Apple M1 (8GB)** (8 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **iPhone 17** (8 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **iPhone 17 Pro** (12 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only)** (16 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **Google Pixel 10 Pro** (16 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB)** (24 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **Apple M4 Pro (48GB)** (48 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)
- **Apple M3 Ultra (256GB)** (256 GB): Yes, it runs (room for FP16)

Full table of all 40 devices: https://localmodel.run/model/gemma-3-270m

## How to run
Quickest path: `ollama run gemma3:270m`. On Mac, LM Studio (ships MLX) is fastest; on Linux, Ollama for chat or vLLM to serve; on Windows, LM Studio or Ollama.

## Details
- Parameters: 270M
- Default context: 32k tokens
- License: Gemma (commercial use: conditional)
- Released: 2025-03
- HuggingFace: 2,148,297 downloads/mo, 1058 likes

## FAQ
### How much VRAM or RAM does Gemma 3 270M need?
About 1.1 GB at Q4_K_M (weights 0.2 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. Budget ~1.2 GB for Q8_0.
### Can Gemma 3 270M run on a laptop?
Yes. Gemma 3 270M fits on a 16 GB laptop or Mac at Q4_K_M, and runs on Apple Silicon or a 12 GB+ GPU comfortably.
### Can I use Gemma 3 270M commercially?
Conditionally: Gemma Terms of Use apply to commercial use..

Sources: https://huggingface.co/google/gemma-3-270m, https://huggingface.co/ggml-org/gemma-3-270m-GGUF/tree/main, https://ollama.com/library/gemma3:270m
More: https://localmodel.run/model/gemma-3-270m