Text model · Mistral
Magistral Small: RAM and VRAM requirements
Magistral Small needs about 16 GB to run at Q4_K_M (the Q4_K_M GGUF file is ~14 GB to download; KV cache and overhead add the rest), or about 27 GB at Q8_0. The lightest hardware that runs it is Apple M4 (24GB).
Mistral family · 24B params · released Jun 2025.
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Q4_K_M and Q8_0 are GGUF download (file) sizes. Memory @ Q4 includes the KV cache and overhead, so it runs larger than the file on disk.
Will it run on your device?
Magistral Small runs on 15 of 40 tracked devices at Q4_K_M.
Memory breakdown
How context length changes it
Longer context grows the KV cache quickly: Magistral Small needs ~16 GB at 4k but ~52.4 GB at 128k, which can push it past a device that fits it at a short context.
Speed drops too: every token re-reads the KV cache, so at 128k context Magistral Small generates at roughly ~27% of its short-context speed. How this is estimated.
Quantization sizes
| Quantization | Size on disk |
|---|---|
| Q2_K | 10.1 GB est |
| Q3_K_M | 11.7 GB est |
| Q4_K_M (default) | 14 GB |
| Q5_K_M | 17.1 GB est |
| Q6_K | 19.7 GB est |
| Q8_0 | 25 GB |
| FP16 | 47 GB |
Lower quant = smaller and faster, slightly lower quality. Q4_K_M is the common default.
Run it
ollama run magistral:24b Which devices can run Magistral Small?
Apple Silicon Macs
- Apple M1 (8GB) No
- Apple M2 (16GB) No
- Apple M4 (16GB) No
- Apple M5 (16GB) No
- Apple M3 Pro (18GB) No
- Apple M4 (24GB) Tight
- Apple M4 Pro (24GB) Tight
- Apple M5 (32GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Pro (48GB) Yes
- Apple M5 Pro (48GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Max (64GB) Yes
- Apple M4 Max (128GB) Yes
- Apple M5 Max (128GB) Yes
- Apple M3 Ultra (256GB) Yes
RAM-only laptops
iPhone & iPad
Android
NVIDIA GPUs
Same job, different size
Pick by what fits your memory: step down to free up VRAM, or step up if you have headroom.
Similar models
Head-to-head
FAQ
How much VRAM or RAM does Magistral Small need?
At Q4_K_M, Magistral Small needs about 16 GB (weights ~14 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. At Q8_0 budget ~27 GB.
What is the Q4_K_M GGUF file size of Magistral Small?
The Q4_K_M GGUF file is about 14 GB to download, and the Q8_0 GGUF is about 25 GB. That is the weights file on disk; to run it you also need room for the KV cache and overhead, so budget ~16 GB of memory at Q4_K_M.
Can Magistral Small run on a laptop?
Magistral Small is large; you need a 24 GB+ GPU or a 32-48 GB Mac at Q4_K_M.
Can I use Magistral Small commercially?
Yes. Magistral Small is licensed Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use.
Understand the numbers
Short guides to the ideas behind Magistral Small's memory and quant figures.
Mistral's open reasoning model, built on Small 3.1 with reinforcement learning. Tool use and vision.
Sources
Last validated 2026-08-03. Memory figures are estimates. See methodology.