# Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B: RAM and VRAM requirements

> Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B is a 3.82B Phi-3.5 model. At Q4_K_M it needs about **3.7 GB** to run and fits **39 of 39** tracked devices. Minimum to run: Apple M1 (8GB).

Last validated: 2026-06-15. Sources: Ollama, HuggingFace GGUF repos, vendor specs.

## Memory by quantization
| Quant | On disk | To run (4k context) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Q4_K_M | 2.39 GB | ~3.7 GB |
| Q8_0 | 4.06 GB | ~5.4 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 Q8_0
- **Generic Android Phone (8GB RAM)** (8 GB): Yes, but tight
- **iPhone 17 Pro** (12 GB): Yes, it runs — room for Q8_0
- **Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (16GB)** (16 GB): Yes, it runs — room for FP16
- **Google Pixel 10 Pro** (16 GB): Yes, it runs — room for FP16
- **Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (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 39 devices: https://localmodel.run/model/phi-3.5-mini

## How to run
Quickest path: `ollama run phi3.5:3.8b`. 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: 3.82B
- Default context: 128k tokens
- License: MIT (commercial use: yes)
- Released: 2024-08-23
- HuggingFace: 595,867 downloads/mo, 988 likes

## FAQ
### How much VRAM or RAM does Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B need?
About 3.7 GB at Q4_K_M (weights 2.39 GB + KV cache + overhead) at a 4k context. Budget ~5.4 GB for Q8_0.
### Can Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B run on a laptop?
Yes. Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B 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 Phi-3.5-mini 3.8B commercially?
Yes, MIT permits commercial use.

Sources: https://ollama.com/library/phi3.5:3.8b, https://huggingface.co/bartowski/Phi-3.5-mini-instruct-GGUF, https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/new-models-added-to-the-phi-3-family-available-on-microsoft-azure/, https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-foundry-blog/discover-the-new-multi-lingual-high-quality-phi-3-5-slms/4225280
More: https://localmodel.run/model/phi-3.5-mini