Can Gemma 2 9B run on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

Q: Is unified memory on MacBook Air M4 24GB as fast as VRAM for Gemma 2 9B?

Not always. MacBook Air M4 24GB can often fit larger models thanks to unified memory, but a discrete GPU with dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM may still decode faster once the model fits. For this combination, the important distinction is capacity versus sustained throughput.

YES — Runs Great

B65Good

Estimated — low-sample bucket· few comparable runs

Gemma 2 9B needs ~14.1 GB VRAM. MacBook Air M4 24GB has 17.3 GB. With Q4_K_M quantization, expect ~12 tok/s.

Runtime: llama.cppCapacity: RoomyBandwidth: Very lowStack: StandardBottleneck: Memory bandwidth

Operating mode

Choose the run profile you care about

Interactive favors responsiveness, while light API and scale-out lean harder on serving readiness. The fit stays the same, but the recommendation lens changes.

Current mode

Balanced

Balanced for general local use. Keeps the ranking neutral across personal and serving workflows.

Capabilities:

Select quantization to explore

Q4_K_M (Medium quality) — 14.1 GB, 11.5 tok/s, Runs well

14.1 GB required17.3 GB available

82% VRAM used

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

11.5 tok/s

TTFT

16803 ms

Safe context

Memory

14.1 GB / 17.3 GB

Memory breakdown

Weights5.5 GB

KV Cache5.1 GB

Runtime0.9 GB

Headroom2.6 GB

See how fast it feels

See how fast it feelsGemma 2 9B on MacBook Air M4 24GB
1st promptCold start — includes initialization
>What is local AI inference?
Local AI inference means running an AI language model directly on your own hardware — your laptop, desktop, or server — instead of sending requests to a remote cloud API.

When you run inference locally the model weights are loaded into your GPU or unified memory. Each token you generate requires reading those weights from memory, so memory bandwidth is the main bottleneck for decode speed.

Key benefits of running locally:
  - Full privacy: your prompts never leave your machine
  - No per-token cost or rate limits
  - Works offline once the model is downloaded
  - Latency depends only on your hardware
2nd promptWarm — model ready, no init overhead
>How much VRAM do I need?
It depends on the model size and quantization level. A rough rule of thumb:

  Model size     Q4 (4-bit)    Q8 (8-bit)    FP16
  7B params      ~4.3 GB       ~7.5 GB       ~14 GB
  13B params     ~7.9 GB       ~13.9 GB      ~26 GB
  70B params     ~42.7 GB      ~74.9 GB      ~140 GB

Most people use 4-bit quantization (Q4_K_M) which gives 90-95% of full quality at a fraction of the memory. A 24 GB GPU can comfortably run most 7B-13B models.
Estimated: 11.5 tok/s decode · 16.8s TTFT (warm) · 29 tok/s prefill

What limits this setup

This setup is broadly balanced for this model.

Shared-memory contention still exists

The OS, browser, and inference runtime all compete for the same physical memory pool, so real-world headroom is less forgiving than raw capacity suggests.

Best improvement path

Performance by workload

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Chat	B	Runs well	11.5 tok/s	9166 ms	8K
Coding	B	Runs well	11.9 tok/s	16232 ms	8K
Agentic Coding	C	Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)	9.7 tok/s	29118 ms	8K
Reasoning	B	Runs well	11.5 tok/s	19859 ms	8K
RAG	C	Very compromised (needs ~0.6 GB host RAM)	9.7 tok/s	36398 ms

Quantization options

How Gemma 2 9B (9B params) fits at each quantization level on MacBook Air M4 24GB (17.3 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.5 GB	Low	B61
Q3_K_S	3	4.4 GB	Low	B62
NVFP4	4

Get started

Copy-paste commands to run Gemma 2 9B on your machine.

Run

ollama run gemma2

Upgrade options

Hardware that runs Gemma 2 9B well

MacBook Pro M2 Max 32GBBudget pick

32 GB Unified (+8)400 GB/s (+280)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 192%.33.6 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 192%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32GBBest value

32 GB Unified (+8)200 GB/s (+80)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 77%.20.3 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 77%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

MacBook Pro M1 Pro 32GBApple upgrade

32 GB Unified (+8)200 GB/s (+80)

Raises estimated decode speed by about 63%.18.8 tok/s decode

Raises estimated decode speed by about 63%.

Adds memory headroom for longer context windows and future model growth.

~$1,999 MSRP

Frequently asked questions

Can MacBook Air M4 24GB run Gemma 2 9B?

Yes, MacBook Air M4 24GB can run Gemma 2 9B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 11.9 tok/s.

How much VRAM does Gemma 2 9B need?

Gemma 2 9B (9B parameters) requires approximately 14.1 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Gemma 2 9B?

The recommended quantization for Gemma 2 9B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

What speed will Gemma 2 9B run at on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

On MacBook Air M4 24GB, Gemma 2 9B achieves approximately 11.9 tokens per second decode speed with a time-to-first-token of 16232ms using Q4_K_M quantization.

Can MacBook Air M4 24GB run Gemma 2 9B for coding?

For coding workloads, Gemma 2 9B on MacBook Air M4 24GB receives a B grade with 11.9 tok/s and 8K context.

What context window can Gemma 2 9B use on MacBook Air M4 24GB?

On MacBook Air M4 24GB, Gemma 2 9B can safely use up to 8K tokens of context. The model's official context limit is 8K, but available memory constrains the safe maximum.

Is unified memory on MacBook Air M4 24GB as fast as VRAM for Gemma 2 9B?

See all results for MacBook Air M4 24GB See all hardware for Gemma 2 9B

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