Hardware guide · Phi-4
What hardware do you need to run Phi-4-reasoning?
Phi-4-reasoning needs about 10.1 GB to run at Q4_K_M, so the lightest hardware that runs it is Apple M2 (16GB). 29 of 40 devices tested can run it.
- Needs (Q4_K_M)
- ~10.1 GB
- Devices that run it
- 29
- Too small
- 11
- Lightest that runs it
- ~10.5 GB
Recommended Q4_K_M
Runs at Q4_K_M using ~10.1 GB of ~12 GB usable.
What kind of hardware runs Phi-4-reasoning
Of the 29 devices that run it, here is the split by hardware class.
9 discrete GPUs 13 Macs 2 laptops 5 phones
Hardware that runs Phi-4-reasoning
Ranked by usable memory, lightest first. Prices are approximate street prices for the device itself (a GPU is the card alone; a Mac is the whole machine). Tok/s is a bandwidth estimate; see methodology.
Compatible devices 29 total
- TightApple M2 (16GB) from $1,199~10.5 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~9 tok/s est.
- TightApple M4 (16GB) from $999~10.5 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~11 tok/s est.
- TightGoogle Pixel 9 Pro from $999~10.5 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~4 tok/s est.
- TightApple M5 (16GB) from $1,099~10.5 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~15 tok/s est.
- TightGoogle Pixel 10 Pro from $999~10.5 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~4 tok/s est.
- TightNvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (12GB) from $329~11 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~28 tok/s est.
- TightNvidia GeForce RTX 4070 (12GB) from $599~11 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~39 tok/s est.
- YesApple M3 Pro (18GB) from $1,299~12 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~9 tok/s est.
- Yes16GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) from $750~12 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~5 tok/s est.
- YesiPad Pro M4 (16GB, 1TB/2TB config) from $1,599~12 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~7 tok/s est.
- YesSamsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (16GB, 1TB config only) from $1,619~12 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~5 tok/s est.
- YesSamsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (16GB, 1TB config) from $1,299~12 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~5 tok/s est.
- YesNvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (16GB) from $499~15 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~22 tok/s est.
- YesNvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (16GB) from $1,199~15 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~55 tok/s est.
- YesApple M4 (24GB) from $1,299~16 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~11 tok/s est.
- YesApple M4 Pro (24GB) from $1,999~16 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~26 tok/s est.
- YesApple M5 (32GB) from $1,299~21 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~15 tok/s est.
- YesNvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (24GB) from $1,599~23 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~78 tok/s est.
- YesNvidia GeForce RTX 3090 (24GB) from $1,499~23 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~72 tok/s est.
- YesAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (24GB) from $999~23 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~74 tok/s est.
- Yes32GB RAM Laptop (CPU/iGPU only) from $1,100~28 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~5 tok/s est.
- YesNvidia GeForce RTX 5090 (32GB) from $1,999~31 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~138 tok/s est.
- YesApple M4 Pro (48GB) from $2,399~32 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~26 tok/s est.
- YesApple M5 Pro (48GB) from $2,199~32 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~29 tok/s est.
- YesApple M4 Max (64GB) from $3,499~48 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~52 tok/s est.
- YesApple M4 Max (128GB) from $3,499~96 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~52 tok/s est.
- YesAMD Ryzen AI Halo (128GB) from $3,999~96 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~20 tok/s est.
- YesApple M5 Max (128GB) from $3,599~96 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~58 tok/s est.
- YesApple M3 Ultra (256GB) from $3,999~192 GB usable · uses ~10.1 GB · ~78 tok/s est.
Too small for Phi-4-reasoning
See the full Phi-4-reasoning memory breakdown, or compare it against other models.
Sources
Memory at Q4_K_M (10.1 GB = 8.43 GB weights + KV cache + overhead), validated 2026-08-03. See methodology.